person whom she ought to Love In Smyrna there liv'd a young Lady of extraordinary Beauty call'd Emira who yet was not more famous for her Beauty than for the severity of her Manners and above all for a strange Indifference that she had for all Men whom as she said she beheld without any danger and without any other concernment than what she felt for her Friends or her Brothers She cou'd not believe the thousandth part of all the follies which she was told Love had been the cause of and those which she saw herself she cou'd not comprehend Friendship was the only thing she had any notion of and that she made the first experiment of in a young and beautiful person of her own Sex She found in her friendship something so very soft and pleasing that her only Study was how to continue it never imagining that any other Inclination cou'd arise which shouâ—d make her less to cherish that esteem and confidence which she prizâ—d so much then Her discourse was only of Euphrosina which was the name of that faithful friend and the discourse of all Smyrna was only of Euphrosina and her Their Friendship became a Proverb Emira had two Brothers both so young and so handsome that all the Women of that City were in love with 'em and whom she lov'd herself as became a Sister One of the Priests of Iupiter had access to her Fathers house and being ravisht with her Beauty ventur'd to declare his Passion to her but came off only with Scorn and Contempt An old man who relying on his great Birth and Estate had the same assurance met with the same success She Triumphs on this she was surrounded by her Brothers a Priest and an Old Man and cou'd boast herself Insensible but these were not the greatest Tryals that Heaven had reserv'd â—or her yet they too had no other effect but to render her still more Vain and to confirm her in the reputation of being a person that was not to be toucht with Love Of three Lovers whom her Charms had gain'd her one after another and all whose Passions she was not afraid to see and to slight the first in an Amorous Transport stabb'd himself at her feet the second in Despair of ever succeeding wenâ— to seek his Death in the Wars of Crete and the third ended his days in a Miserable Languishment and Distraction The man that was to revenge all these had not yet appear'd The old Spark who was so unfortunate in his Amours was cur'd at length by reflecting on his Age and on the character of the person to whom he had made his Addresses However he was desirous to visit her sometimes and had her Permission One day he carry'd along with him his Son a Youth of a most agreeable Aspect and of a noble Mein She beheld him with some Interest more than ordinary but observing him very silent as he was in the presence of his Father she made a judgment of his Wit from thence not much to his advantage She cou'd have wisht he had had more He saw her afterwards alone and then he talkt to her sufficiently and wittily too but when he regarded her less and talkt to her less about her self and her Beauty than she expected she was surpriz'd and had as it were some indignation that a Man who was so well made and had so much Wit shou'd be so little Gallant Her Friend had exprest a Desire to see him and was in company when she entertain'd him that was the reason 'T was for Euphrosina alone that he had Eyes and her Beauty alone which he commended This made Emira from being Indifferent to become Jealous and then she perceivâ—d that Ctesiphon was sensible of what he said and that he not only was capable of Gallantry but of Tenderness From that time she is more reserv'd to her friend yet desirous to see 'em together once more The second Interview more than satisfy'd her in all her fears her doubt was turn'd into certainty She now flyes from Euphrosina no longer knows that Merit which charm'd her before she loses all relish of her conversation she loves her no longer and this alteration made her sensible that 't was Love which in her heart had supply'd the place of friendship Ctesiphon and Euphrosina see one another every day They love mutually they agree to marry They are marryâ—d The news is spread about the Town and People publish it the more for the rarity of it that two persons who Love so well shou'd be blest in Enjoyment Emira hears of it and is all enrag'd she feels then to what height her Passion was grown She seeks out Euphrosina again only for the pleasure of one sight of Ctesiphon but that young Husband has not yet quitted the Lover in a new Wife he finds all the Charms of a Mistriss which makes him that he cannot look on Emira but as on the friend of her that 's dear to him This compleats the poor Lady's misfortune She can take no rest refuses all sustenance her Body grows weak and her Mind disturb'd She mistakes her Brother for Ctesiphon and speaks to him as to a Lover She recollects her self and blushes for her Distraction yet relapses into greater which she does not blush for She knows not what she does Then is she apprehensive of Men when 't is too late 'T is her Folly now She has her Intervals of Reason but 't is of Reason that she most complains In this condition she lyes so sad and miserable that the Youth of Smyrna who before had seen her so proud and insensible now think Heaven has punisht her but too severely Of the Heart * PUre Friendship is something which none can attain to the taste of but those who are well Born * There may be a Friendship between persons of different Sexes which may subsist without Enjoyment yet a Woman will always look upon a Man as a Man and so will a Man still look upon a Woman as a Woman This Engagement is neither Love nor pure Friendship 'T is something of another kind * Love seizes on us suddenly without giving us time to consider and our Disposition or our Weakness favours the Surprize One Look one Glance from the Fair fixes and determins us Friendship on the contrary is a long time in forming and that by degrees by a long Acquaintance and Familiarity How much Wit good Nature Affection how many good Offices and Civilities are there among Friends to do that in many years which sometimes a fair Face or a fair Hand does in a minute * Friendship the older it grows is the stronger Love is the weaker for its Age. * Love as long as it does last subsists of itself and sometimes subsists by those very means which shou'd seem rather to extinguish it Severity Cruelty Absence Jealousy Friendship on the contrary stands in need of all helps Care Confidence and Complaisance If 't is not supply'd with these it
expires * 'T is not so hard to meet with Love in Excess as with perfect Friendship * Love and Friendship exclude one another * He that has had Experience of a great and violent Love neglects Friendship and he that has consum'd all his Passion upon Friendship is nothing advanc'd towards Love * Love alone begets Love We commence but languishing Lovers when we have but just quitted the dearest and most affectionate Friendship * Nothing more resembles the strongest Friendship than those Engagements which we make for the Interest and Security of our Love * We never Love heartily but once and that 's the first time we love The Inclinations that succeed are more at our Command * Sudden Love is longest to be cur'd * Love that grows slowly and leisurely is too like Friendship ever to be a violent Passion * He who loves to that degree that he wishes he were able to love a thousand times more than he does yields in Love to None but to Him who loves more than he wishes for * If I shou'd grant that 't is possible for those who are transported with a great and violent Passion to love one another better than themselves Who shou'd I most oblige They that love or they that are belov'd * Men are sometimes inclinable enough to be in Love but can't succeed in their Desire They seek all Occasions of being conquer'd but escape still for which reason 't is if I may be allow'd the Expression that they are bound to continue free * The couple who love too violently at first contribute each of 'em to their loving one another less in a short time and at length to their hating one another Who has the greatest share in this Rupture the Man or the Woman is not easily to be decided The Women accuse the Men of being wild and roving and the Men say they are false and inconstant * As nice as we are in Love we pardon more Faults in Love than in Friendship * 'T is a Revenge sweet to a Man that loves passionately by all his Conduct and Carriage to an ungrateful Mistris to make her appear extreamly ungrateful 'T is but an unpleasant thing to Love when we have not a Fortune great enough to render those we love as happy as they themselves can desire * The Woman that makes no Return to our present Passion whatever important services she may afterwards do us in the residue of our Life will hardly meet with any thing from us but Ingratitude * When we are very grateful 't is a sign that we have a great Inclination and Affection for the person that has oblig'd us * To be but in the company of those we love satisfies us it does not signify whether we speak to 'em or not whether we think on them or on indifferent things To be near 'em is all * Hatred is not so remote from Friendship as Antipathy * 'T is more common to see People pass from Antipathy to Love than from that to Friendship * We make a Confidence of our secret in Friendship but in Love it escapes from us 'T is possible to have some People's Confidence and yet not to have their Hearts But he who has the Heart has no need of Confidence every thing is open to him In Friendship we only see those Faults which may be prejudicial to our Friends In those we love we see no Faults but those by which we suffer our selves 'T is the first Disgust in Love only as well as the first Fault in Friendship which we are able to make a good use of * If a Suspicion that is unjust fantastical and groundless has been call'd Jealousy methinks that Jealousy which is a sentiment just natural founded on Reason and Experience shou'd deserve some other Name 'T is not always a great passion that is the cause of Jealousy our natural temper has some share in it yet 't is a Paradox for a violent Love to be without Delicacy Our Delicacy often disturbs none but our selves â—â—ealousy makes us not only uneasy our selves but disturbs others Those Women who while they are not at the pains of dissembling with us are not sparing to give us all occasions of Jealousy don't indeed deserve our Jealousy if we had the power to regulate our selves more by their Sentiments and Conduct than by our own Affections * The coldnesses and disorders which happen in Friendship have their causes In Love there 's hardly any other reason for our ceasing to love but that we are too well belov'd * 'T is no more in our power to love always than 't is not to love sometimes * Love receives its Deaths Wound from Disgust and is bury'd by Oblivion * We are sensible of the Beginning and Decline of Love by the Impatience we have to be alone * To cease from loving is a sensible proof that Man is limited and that the Heart has its bounds 'T is a Weakness to love 'T is sometimes another Weakness to attempt the cure of it We are cur'd of that just as we are comforted for our afflictions 'T is impossible in Nature always to grieve or always to love * There ought to be in the Heart inexhaustible sourses of Grief for some Losses â—Tis seldom that either by our vertue oâ— force of mind we overcome a great afflictioâ—â— We weep bitterly and are sensibly toucht but at length we are either so weak or so inconstant that we take up and are comforted * When an ugly Woman is belov'd it must certainly be very deperately for either it must proceed from a strange weakness in her Lover or from some more secret and invincible charms than those of her Beauty * Visits amongst Lovers are made for a good while out of custom and ceremony to profess they love by words when 't has been a long time that their Actions and Manners have declar'd the contrary * Wou'd you endeavour to forget any one 't is the certain course to think on nothing else Love has this in common with Scruples that 't is exasperated by the Reflections which are us'd to free us from it If 't were Practicable there 's nothing necessary to weaken our Passion but never to think on 't * We wou'd have it in our power that those whom we love might receive all their good or else all their ill fortune from our Hands * 'T is a greater happiness in comparison to regret the loss of a person we love than to â—ive with one we hate * How disinterested soever we may be in respect of those we love we must sometimes constrain our selves for their sakes and have the generosity to accept of what they present us He 's fit to receive who is toucht with as delicate a pleasure in accepting as his friend is sensible of in giving * To give is to act We are not to be passive in the case to have our benefits extorted from us by the importunity or necessity of our Petitioners *
Extraction Their Merit is not Noisy or Ostentatious but Solid accompanyâ—d with a thousand Vertues which in spight of all their Modesty break out and shine to all who have but Eyes to discern ' em * I cou'd wish to be a Woman that is a Fair and Beautiful Woman from Thirteen to Two and Twenty but after that Age to be a Man again * Nature has been very kind to some young Ladies but they are not sensible of the Happiness They Spoil by Affectation those Gifts which they enjoy by the distinguishing favour of Heaven The Tone of their Voice their Mien is not their own They study they consult their Glasses how to Dress themselves as much out of Nature as they can and 't is not without a great deal of Trouble that they are able â—o make themselves less Agreeable * If 't is the Ambition of Women only to appear Handsome in their own Eyes they are in the right without doubt to take what course they please to Beautify themselves and in the choice of their Dress and Ornaments to follow their own caprice and fancy But if 't is the Men whom they wou'd charm if 't is for them they Wash and Paint I have told their votes in that case and I do assure them from all the Men or from the greatest part that the White and Red they use make 'em look hideous and frightful that they hate as much to see Women with Paint on their Faces as with false Teeth in their Mouths or Balls to plump out their Cheeks that they solemnly protest against all Art which indeed does but make 'em ugly and is the last and infallible means that Heav'n takes to reclaim Men from their Love If Women were form'd by Nature what they make themselves by Art if they were to lose in a Minute all the freshness of their their Complexion and were to have their Faces as thick with Red and Paint as they lay 'em on they wouâ—d look on themselves as the most wretched Creatures in the World * A Coquet is one that is never to be perswaded out of her Inclination for appearing always agreeable nor out of the good Opinion she has of her own Beauty Time and Years she regards as things that wrinkle and decay other Women but forgets that Age is writ in the Face and that the same Dress which became her when she was young does but make her look the older now Affectation attends her evâ—n sickness and pain She dies in a High-head and colour'd Ribbonds * Lyce hears that anotheâ— Coquet laughs at her pretending to Youth and her wearing those Dresses which do not agree with a Woman of Forty Lyce is no less 't is true but Years with her have not twelve Months nor do they add to her Age that is she thinks so and when she looks in the Glass and lays on the Paint on her own Face and sticks on the Patches she confesses there is an Age when 't is not decent to affect to appear youthful and that Clarice indeed with her Paint and Patches is very ridiculous * Women when they expect their Lovers make great preparation in their Dress but if they are surpriz'd by them in it they immediately vanish and are seen no more In the presence of indifferent Persons what disorder they 're sensible of they rectify with ease and before them make no scruple to adjust themselves or else disappear for a moment and return drest * A fine Face is the finest of all Sights and the sweetest Musick is the Sound of her Voice whom we love * That a Woman is agreeable depends on Fancy but Beauty is something more real and independant on inclination and opinion * There are Women of such perfect Beauty and such transcendant Merit that tho 't is impossible for us not to love 'em yet we dare not encourage our passion to hope for any greater favour than that of seeing 'em and conversing with â—em * A Beautiful Woman that has the qualities of a Man of Honour is of all the Conversation in the World the most delicious In her alone is to be found all the Merit of both Sexes * Every little kind accidental thing that comes from the Fair is strangely moving and perswasive to the Persons in whose favour 't is intended 'T is not so with the Men their Caresses their Words their Actions are sincere and soft and transported yet are not half so perswading * Caprice from Women is inseparable and is the Counter-poison of their Beauty It prevents the damage which their Beauty wou'd otherwise do the Men and cures 'em when no other Remedy will take effect * Women are engag'd to Men by the Favours they grant ' em Men are disingag'd by the same Favours * When a Woman no longer loves a Man she forgets him so much as not to remember the favours he has receiv'd from her * A Woman that has but one Gallant thinks she is no Coquet She that has more thinks her self but a Coquet * A Woman may avoid the Reputation of being a Coquet by a firm engagement to one particular Person who yet passes for a Fool for having made a bad choice * An old Gallant is of so little consideration that he must give way to a new Husband and a Husband is of so short duration that a new Gallant justles him out of place * An old Gallant either fears or despises a new Rival according to the Character of the Person he serves An old Gallant often wants nothing but the name to be a very Husband He is oblig'd to that circumstance or else he wou'd have been discarded a thousand times * Few Intreigues are secret a great many Women are not better known by their Husbands names than by the names of their Gallants * A Woman of Gallantry is Ambitious of being belovâ—d t is enough for a Coquet that she 's thought lovely and desirable The business of one is to make an engagement of the other to make a Coquest The first passes successively from one Engagement to another the second has a great many Amusements on her hands at once Passion and Pleasure are predominant in one Vanity and Levity in the other The gallantry of this proceeds from a weakness in the Heart or perhaps a vice in Complexion that the other is a Coquet proceeds from an irregularity of the Mind The Gallant Lady is fear'd the Coquet hated From these two Characters might be form'd a third which wou'd be the worst in the World * A weak Woman is one that being guilty of a Fault reproaches herself more than she 's reproacht Her Heart is in a perpetual War with her Reason She wou'd fain be cur'd of her folly but is hardly ever cur'd at least 't is very long first * An Inconstant Woman is one that is no longer in Love a False Woman is one that is already in Love with another Person She 's Fickle that neither knows whom she loves nor
they are forc't to have recourse to some other reason for this intimacy than that of agreement of Manners * An Actor exceeds Nature in the parts he plays a Poet exaggerates in his descriptions A Painter who draws after the life heightens the Passion the Contrast and the Postures and he that copies him unless he measures exactly the sizes and proportions will make his Figures too big and give more scope to all the parts thro the disposition of the whole piece than they have in the Original 'T is the same with the Precise or Formal they are but the imitators of the Wise. There is a false Modesty which is Vanity a false Glory which is Folly a false Grandeur which is Meanness a false Vertue which is Hypocrisy and a false Wisdom which is Formality The formal Lady is all show and words the Conduct of the Wise Woman is better than her words One follows her Humour and Fancy the other her Reason and Affection This is precise and austere the other is on all occasions exactly what she ought to be The first hides her Failings under a plausible outside The second covers a rich Treasure of Vertues under a free and careless Air. Formality puts a constraint on the Wit neither does it hide Age or Wrinkles it gives cause to suspect 'em often Wisdom on the contrary palliates the Defects of the Body and ennobles the Mind It renders Youth more charming and Beauty more dangerous * Why should Men be blamâ—d because Women have not Learning What Laws what Edicts have they publishâ—d to prohibit 'em â—rom opening their Eyes Râ—ading Remembring or making their advantage of what theyâ—ve read when theâ— write or when they converse Is not this ignorance of theirs owing to a custom they have introducâ—d themselves or to the weakness of their Nature or to laziness that they will not use their Wit or to an inconstancy that will not let 'em prosecute any long Study or to a Genius and Talent which they have only to employ their Fingers or to a natural aversion for all things serious and difficult or to a Curiosity very far from that which gratifies the Mind or to a quite different pleasure than that of exercising the Memory But whatever cause it is to which Men are obligâ—d for this Ignorance of the Women 't is certain they are happy that the Women who have such Pre-eminence over 'em in so many things shou'd even have this advantage too which they do not intend to grudge ' em A VVoman with Learning we look on as we do on a fine Gun the workmanship of it is rare 't is engrav'd most curiously and kept wonderfully bright but then 't is only fit to adorn a Closet to be shown them who admire such things 'T is of no more use or service either for the Camp or for hunting than a Manag'd Horse let him be never so well taught VVhere I find Learning and Wisdom united in any one Person I never stand to enquire the Sex I admire 'em And if you tell me that a Wise VVoman is seldom Learned or a Learned VVoman seldom Wise 't is a sign you have forgot what you read just before that the reason why VVomen were diverted from Science was upon the account of certain Defects Now do you judge your self if they who have fewest Defectsâ— are not the most likely to be the wisest and so consequently a Wise VVoman bids fairest for Learning and a Learned Woman cou'd never be such without having overcome a great many Defects which is an infallible proof of her Wisdom * 'T is a difficult point to maintain a Neutrality when two Women who are equally our friends fall out upon Interests in which we are not at all concern'd we must be often oblig'd to take one side or the other or we loose 'em both * There are those Women in the world who love their Money above their Friends yet will part with their Money to their Lovers * 'T is strange to see Passions in some VVomen stronger and more violent than that of their love to Men I mean Ambition and Play Such VVomen make the Men chaste and have nothing of their own Sex but the Cloaths they wear * VVomen are all in extreams They arâ— either better or worse than Men. * Most VVomen have no Principles They are led by their Passions and those whom they love form their Manners * Women exceed the generality of Men in love but in friendship we have infinitely the advantage The Men are the occasion that Women do not love one another * Mocking is of ill consequence Lyce who is something in years to make a young Woman appear ridiculous makes her self so deform'd that she is frightful To imitate her she uses such Grimaces and puts her self in such distorted Figures that now she 's grown so horribly ugly that the Person whom she mocks cannot have a better Foil * In the City they will have it that there are Idiots both Men and Women who have some Wit At Court they will have it that there are abundance of People who really have Wit yet want a great deal more These last Criticks will hardly allow a Beautiful Woman to have as much Wit as the rest of her Sex * A Man is sooner to be trusted with another Persons secret than his own A Woman on the contrary keeps her own Secret tho she keeps no bodies else * Let Love seem never so violently and so entirely to possess the Heart of a young Woman there 's room enough still left for Ambition and Interest * There is a time when the richest Women ought to Marry They seldom let slip an opportunity at first but it costs 'em a long Repentance The Reputation of a Fortune decays as well as Beauty On the contrary every thing is favourable to the young of that Sex even the Mens opinion who are fond of giving 'em all the advantages possible to render 'em still more Desirable * To how many Women has a great Beauty been of no service at all but to make em hope for a great Fortune * Lovers who have been ill us'd have their revenge at last They commonly see their Mistresses tho Beautiful throw away themselves on ugly old or undeserving Husbands * Most Women judge of the Merit and good Mein of a Person by what impression they make on them and very rarely allow him either if they are not sensibly toucht themselves * He that is in doubt to know what alteration his Age has made in him needs only to consult the Eyes of the Fair One he addresses to and the tone of her Voice as she talks with him and he will learn there what he fears to know But oh how hard a Lesson * The Woman that has her Eyes constantly fixt on one particular Person or whose Eyes you may observe constantly to avoid him tho they are two different Motions they make us conclude but one and the same thing of
him at first be drawn to little things so will you be certain not to fail when you shall attempt him in greater There have been those in the World who at first have had no greater influence over a Man than that perhaps of making him leave the Town or Country a day or two before his time who at length have arriv'd to that power as to prescribe him what he shou'd do in his Will make him disinherit his only Son To govern any one absolutely and for a long time 't is necessary to carry a light hand and to let him perceive as little as possible his Dependance Some People suffer themselves to be govern'd just so far and no farther Beyond that they are intractable 'T is impossible to move their Hearts or their Minds Neither rough nor gentle means force nor industry can reduce ' em 'T is with this difference tho that some are thus made by reason and judgment and others by humour and disposition There are those men who will not hearken to reason or good council but deviate of their own Heads purely for fear of being govern'd There are others who yield to be govern'd by their friends in indifferent things who in things serious and of moment will have the management of themselves Drances would fain pass for one that rules his Master tho his Master is no more sensible of it than the World For a Servant to talk to a Man of Quality incessantly at such times and places as are least convenient to be always whispering or speaking to him in mysterious terms to laugh aloud in his presence to interrupt him to interfere in his discourse with others to treat with contempt those that come to make their Court to his Master to express an impatience till they are gone To seat himself next him and in a posture of too great freedom to pluck him by the Sleeve to tread upon his Heals in fine to affect to be thus familiar and to take these sorts of liberties with him are signs of a Coxcomb rather than a Favourite A Wise Man neither suffers himself to be govern'd nor attempts to govern others 'T is his reason alone which always governs him If I had a friend who was a Man of Reason and whom I might confide in I shou'd not be against delivering up my self entirely to his conduct I shou'd then be sure to do well without being at the pains of deliberation and shou'd enjoy all the tranquility of a person that governs himself by reason * All our Passions are deceitful and as much disguis'd as possible We do not only strive to conceal 'em from other peoples Eyes but our own There is no Vice which has not some resemblance of some Virtue or other and which does not make its advantage of it * We open a Book of Devotion and it touches us We open a Book of Gallantry and that too makes its impression Shall I say it 'T is the Heart alone that reconciles Contrarieties and admits of things incompatible * Men don 't so much blush for their Crimes as for their Weaknesses and Vanity Such a one makes no scruple openly and with a bold face to be unjust cruel perfidious a slanderer yet he conceals his Love or his Ambition upon no other account but purely to conceal it * It rarely happens that a man is brought to own that he is ambitious or that he has been or that he continues so yet 't is common for most People to confess they have lov'd * Love begins and Ambition ends with us so that we are often never freed from Passion till we die * 'T is nothing for our passion to get the better of our reason It s greatest Triumph is when it makes our interest to submit * The best Conversation is that in which the Heart has a greater share than the Head * There are certain sublime Sentiments certain noble and elevated Actions which we own more to the goodness of our Nature than to the force of our Mind * There 's no excess in the World so commendable as an excess of gratitude * He must be a dull fellow indeed whom neither Love Malice nor Necessity can inspire with Wit * There are some places which we admire Others which we love For my part I believe our Wit Humour Passion Taste and Sentiments depend on the places where we live * Those who are good wou'd be the only persons to be envy'd if there were not a better course to be taken which is to excel ' em That is a revenge which is to be permitted and which our Jealousy ought to prompt us to pursue * Some stand upon their Guard against Loving and Rhiming as two weaknesses which they dare not own the one of the Heart and the other of the Head * There are some pleasures to be met withal in the course of our Life which are so dear to us and some engagements so soft and tender that tho they are forbid 't is but natural to desire at least that they were allowable Nothing can be more charming than they are except it be the pleasure of knowing how to renounce 'em by our Vertue OF Society and Conversation 'T IS a silly Character to have none at all * 'T is a Fool 's part to be troublesome A Wise man knows when he is agreeable or vexatious and will not tarry long enough to make any one weary of him * Buffoons are a sort of Insects which breed in all Countries we can scarce step for fear of treading on ' em A pleasant man is rarely to be met with and a person tho he is born so must have a great deal of Delicacy to maintain the character a long time But commonly he that makes one laugh is not sure to be esteem'd * There are abundance of obscene a great many more railing and satyrical Wits but very few delicate A Man must have manners and politeness to trifle with a good grace and a copious fancy to play handsomely on little things to create matter of raillery and make something out of nothing * If we were to listen with attention to every thing that is said in common Conversation we should be asham'd to speak or to hear We shou'd perhaps condemn our selves to a perpetual silence which is more injurious to Commerce than unprofitable discourses we must therefore accommodate our selves to every Mans capacity we must suffer as necessary Evils false News rambling Reflexions on the Government or the Interest of Princes we must hear with patience the fine notions some men are continually repeating and permit Aronce to speak Proverbs and Melinda to talk of herself her Vapours Megrims and Want of Rest. * In the company we keep we shall often meet with persons who offend us with their ridiculous Jargon the Novelty and Impropriety of their Terms and their quaint Expressions which come from no bodys mouth but their own and were not design'd by the first
good a grace as Augustus us'd to foot it to the Capitol The Pewter and Brass in those days shone on their Shelves and Cupboards the Copper and Iron in their Chimnies whilst the Silver and Gold lay safe in their Coffers Women were then serv'd by Women they had such to do their Offices even in their Kitchens The fine Names of Governor and Governante were unknown to our Forefathers they knew to whom the Children of great Princes were confided but they divided the service of their Domesticks with their Children and were content to be themselves their immediate Tutors Every thing they did agreed with their circumstances their Expences were proportion'd to their Receipt their Liveries their Equipages their Houshold Goods their Tables their City and Country Houses were all measur'd by their Revenues and their Condition They had however those outward distinctions amongst themselves that 't was easy to distinguish the Wife of an Attorny from that of a Judge and a Plebeian or Valet from a Gentleman They were less studious to spend or enlarge their Patrimony than to keep it they left it entire to their Heirs and past from a moderate Life to a peaceable Death there was no complaint then 'T is a hard Age. The Misery is great Money is scarce They had less than we have and yet they had enough Richer by their OEconomy and Modesty than their Revenues or Demesnes To conclude in former days they observ'd this Maxim that what is Splendor Sumptuousness and Magnificence in people of quality is in private men Extravagance Folly and Impertinence Of the Court. 'T IS in one sense the most honourable Reproach we can lay on any Man to say he knows not the Court for there is scarce a Vertue which we do not imply by giving him that Character * A Man who frequents the Court is master of his Gestures his Looks and Complexion he is profound and inpenetrable He dissembles when he does ill Offices smiles on his Enemies puts a constraint on his Natural Disposition disguises his Passions acts against his Inclinations speaks against his Opinion And after all this great Refinedness is nothing more than the Vice we call Falshood which is sometimes as unprofitable even for a Courtier as Openness Sincerity and Vertue * The Court is like certain Colours which change their kind and seem of different sorts according to the Lights they are expos'd in * The Man who leaves the Court for a minute renounces it for ever The Courtier who saw him in the Morning must see him at Nigâ—â— to know him the next Day or in short to be known himself * A Man must be content to seem little at Court and let him be never so vain t is impossible to prevent it but his comfort is the evil is common to all and the great ones themselves are but little when they appear there * The Court appears afar off to the Country as an admirable thing but if we approach it its Beauties diminish like a fair Prospect which we view at too little a distance * 'T would be difficult for a great many Persons to pass their Lives in an Anti-chamber a Court-yard or a Stair-case * The Court cannot give a Man content but it hinders him from â—inding it elsewhere * 'T is fit a Gentleman should make a trial of the Court but he will discover as soon as he enters there that he is in a new World which is wholly unknown to him Where Politeness and Vice divide the Government and where Good and Evil are equally useful for his Advancement * The Court is like a Marble Structure I mean 't is compos'd of Men very hard but very polite * A great many Pâ—â—ple go to Court only to come back again and at their return to be taken notice of by the Nobility of their Province or the Bishop of the Diocess * The Embroiderers and Confeâ—â—ioners wou'd be superfluous if we were modest and temperate Courts would be Deâ—arts and Kings left alone if we were void of Vanity and Interest Men are willing to be Slaves at Court to Lord it in the Country It seems as if they delivered out there by the Great that proud stately and commanding Air which our Rulers retail in their Provinces They do exactly what they see done before them and are the True Apes of Royalty * There is nothing disorders a Courtier more than the presence of his Prince We can then scarce know him by his Features his Looks alter and he appears perfectly contemptible The prouder and the haughtier he is the more he is mortify'd because he is at the greater loss whilst a civil and modest Man supports himself very well having nothing to reform * The Air of the Court is contagious it takes at V .... as the Norman Accent prevails at Râ—â—â—n and Falaise we find it amongst the Farriers Controllers and Excisemen A Man with a very little share of Wit may make a great progress towards obtaining it But one of an elevated Genius and solid Worth does nâ—t esteem this sort oâ— Accomplishment â—o nâ—â—â—â—â—ary as to employ much time in studying it however to be in the fashion he gets it without reflection or putting himself to any pains towards acquiring it * N .... arrives at Court with a great noise turns the People aside forces 'em to make way pats some strikes others and tells his name but they take breath awhile and at last oblige him to enter with the Croud * There are at Court the Apparitions of bold and adventurous Men of a free and familiar Character which they discover themselves assuring you their Cunning is preferable to all others and are trusted on their own Affirmations In the mean while they make their advantage of the publick Error or the Love which Men have for Novelty They break through the Croud get up to the ear of the Prince with whom the Courtier sees 'em talking and is glad to be seen himself being for this so useful to the great ones that they are allow'd or at least sufferâ—d without Molestation In a short time they disappear at once rich and out of favour and the Men who just came from being deceiv'd by them are ready to be deceiv'd by others * Here you will see some Men who as they pass by you give you a light Salute stretch out their Shoulders and thrust out their Breasts like Women ask you a Question and look another way speak in a high toneâ— and think themselves above every one in theiâ— presence They stop and the Company come about them They are the Presidents of thâ— Circle have all the Discourse persisting in their ridiculous and counterfeit Stateliness till there comes by a great Officer whose presence throws 'em quickly down from their affected Elevation and reduces 'em to their Native Condition which is less wretched * Courts cannot subsist without a certain sort of Courtiers such as can flatter are complaisant insinuating and devoted to the Ladies
tone of voice and manners that if they could condescend to be good it would grow to Idolatry * If you are born vicious Oh Theagenes I pity you if you are become so out of a weakness for some whose Interest it is that you should be debaucht who have sworn privately to corrupt you and boast already of their success excuse me if I dispise you If you are wise temperate modest civil generous grateful industrious and besides of a Rank that ought to give examples rather than take 'em and make rules for others rather than receive them agree with those sort of Fellows to act out of complaisance their disorders vices and follies when the respect they owe you shall oblige them to imitate your Vertues 'T is an odd but a useful Irony very proper to secure your Manners ruine all their Projects and put â—em on a necessity of continuing what they are and leaving you master of your own actions The Great have in one thing a prodigious advantage over others I don't envy 'em their good Chear Riches Dogs Horses Equipages Fools and Flatterers but I envy them the happiness of having in their service men of as good Souls and Sense and sometimes better than their own * The Great delight in opening Walks in a Forest supporting Trees by long Walls gilding their Cielings in Water-works and Orangeries but to get a quiet Mind and a glad Soul to prevent extream cares or remedy them their Curiosity never reaches so far * One asks if in comparing the different conditions of men together their sufferings and advantages we can't observe an equal mixture and a like sortment of good and evil which settles them on an equality or at least makes one as desirable as the other the rich and powerful man who wants nothing may make the question but a poor man must answer it There is however a Charm in each different condition of which nothing but misery can deprive it the Great please themselves in excess the Little in moderation These delight in lording and commanding those find a pleasure and even a vanity in serving and obeying The Great are surrounded saluted and respected the Little surround salute and cringe yet both are content * Good words cost the great ones so little and their quality dispences them so much with keeping the fairest promises they make that 't is modesty in them to be as sparing of 'em as they are * Such a man say the Great is grown old and almost worn out with attendance what shall we do with himâ— Another more young and active raises his hopes and obtains the Post which was refus'd to this unfortunate man for no other reason than that he too well deservâ—d it * I do not know how it comes to pass say you with a cold and disdainful awe Philantus has merit wit good humour is industrious sincere and faithful to his Master but he is not valued he can't please he is not at all liked Explain your self Do you blame Plilantus or the great man he serves * â—Tis frequently more profitable to quit the Great than to complain of them * Who can give me any reason why some men are lucky at play or others fortunate in the favour of the Great * The Great are so happy that in the whole course of their Lives they are never put to the trouble of lamenting the loss of their best Servants or persons famous in several capacities by whom they have been pleas'd and instructed Their Flatterers are presently ready to find fault with the deceas'd and to exposâ— their weakness from which they preteâ—d their Successors are entirely free they assure them that with the capacity and knowledge of the former they have none â—f their defects and this is the Language which comforts Princes in the loss of the most excellent and worthy and makes 'em satisfy'd with the indifferent * The Great scorn the men of Wit who have nothing but Wit to recommend 'em and the men of Wit despise the Great who have nothing but their Grandeur And the honest man pitties 'em both if they are not Vertuous as well as Great and Witty * When on the one side I see some brisk busie intreaguing bold dangerous and scandalous persons at the Table and often in the familiarity of the Great and on the other hand I consider with what difficulty a man of Merit approaches 'em I don't always believe the wicked â—re suffer'd out of interest or good men lookt on as unprofitable but I chuse rather to confirm my self in this thought that grandeur and discernment are two different things and the Love of Vertue and the Vertuous a third * Lucilius spends his life in rendering himself sufferable to the Great and chuses this before being reduc'd to live familiarly with his equals A man ought to set bounds to his desire of seeing such as are above him for sometimes extraordinary Talents are accessary to put it in practice * Oh the incurable Distemper of Theophilus it has hung on him this thirty years and now we despair of his recovery He was is and will be always willing to govern the Great Death only can quench his thirst of Empire and with his Life deprive him of the ascendant over mens minds Is it in him a zeal for his Neighbour custom or an excessive opinion of himself By his insinuations he gets admittance every where no Pallace escapes him He never stops in the middle of a Chamber he goes on to the Window or Closet and we must wait to be seen or have audience till he has finished his tedious discourses He makes himself a confident to all Families he concerns himself in their misfortunes and advantages he offers himself to 'em on all occasions they make a Feast and he will be admitted The care of a thousand Souls which he must be accountable for as much as for his own is not enough to employ his time and satisfie his ambition of directing There are others of a higher rank and more consideration whom he voluntariâ—y takes charge on without being oblig'd to account for them He looks out enquires and watches for any thing that may nourish his intreaguing humour and his desire of meddling with and managing other mens concerns A Person of Quality can scarce set foot on shore but he catches seizes him and says immediately I govern him before one would think he had so much as thought on 't * A coldness or neglect from our betters makes us hate 'em but a salutation or a smile soon reconciles us * There are some proud men whom the elevation of theiâ— Rivals humbles and mortifiesâ— and this disgrace sometimes â—â—â—â—nes 'em even to be civilâ— but time which sweetens all things resâ—ores them at last 〈…〉 former disposition * The contempt which the 〈◊〉 hâ—ve foâ— the people render â—em 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 flattery and praise they receive and 〈◊〉 their vanity thus Princes who are 〈◊〉 flatter'd by the great without
of their little sports and laws some differ from him and then they form an absolute Government which is guided only by pleasure * Who doubts but Children conceive judge and reason to the purpose If 't is on small things Consider they are Children and without much experience If in bad phrases 't is less their fault than their Parents and Masters * It balks the minds of Children to punish them for Crimes they have not really committed or to be severe with them for light offences They know exactly and better than any one what they deserve and deserve what they fear they know when they are chastisâ—d If 't is with or without reason and unjust sufferings do 'em more harm than Impunity * No Man lives long enough to profit himself by his faults he is committing 'em during the whole course of his life and as much as he can do at last is to dye corrected Nothing pleases a man more than to know he has avoided a foolish action * Men are loath to confess their faults They hide them or change their quality 't is this gives the Director an advantage over the Confessor * Blockheads faults are sometimes so odd and so difficult to foresee that wise men are at a loss to know how they could commit 'em and fools only can be profited by them * A spirit of party and faction sets the Great men and the Mob on an equal foot * Vanity and Decency make us do the same things in the same manner which we should do by inclination and duty A man dy'd at Paris of a Fever which he got by waking with his Wife whom he hated * All men in their hearts covet esteem yet are loath any one should discover they are willing to be esteem'd Thus men pass for Vertuous that they may draw some other advantages from it besides Vertue itself I would say Esteem and Praise This should no longer be thought Vertue but a love for Praise and Esteem and Vanity Men are very vain Creatures and of all things hate to be thought so * A vain man finds his account in speaking good or evil of himself a modest man never talks of himself We canâ—t better comprâ—hend the ridiculousness of Vanity and what a scandalous Vice 't is than by observing how much 't is afraid to be seen and how it often hides itself under the appearance of Modesty False Modesty is the most cunning sort of Vanity By this a man never appears what he is on the contrary raises a reputation by the Vertue quite opposite to the Vice which forms his Character This is a Lye false Glory is the Rock of Vanity it tempts men to acquire esteem by things which they indeed possess but are frivolous and not fit for a man to value himself on this is an Error * Men speak of themselves in such a manner that if they grant they are sometimes guilty of a few little faults or have some small defects these very faults and defects imply fine Talents and great Qualifications Thus they complain of a bad memory well enough contented otherwise in their good sense and judgment forgive people when they reproach them for being distracted or whimsical imagining it the sign of Wit acknowledge they are awkard and can do nothing with their hands comforting themselves in the loss of these little qualities for those of their Minds and the gifts of their Souls which every one allow them Talk of their negligence in phrases which denote their disinterest and their being void of ambition They are not asham'd of being Slovens which shews only that they are heedless about little things and seems to suppose in them an application for things solid and essential A Souldier affects to say 't was too much rashness and curiosity ingag'd him in the Trenches or at such a dangerous post without being on duty or commanded there And adds that the General chid him for 't Thus a good hand and a solid genius born with all the prudence which other men endeavour in vain to acquire who has strengthen'd the temper of his mind by great experience whom the number weight variety difficulty and importance of affairs employ without incumbering who by his large insight and penetration makes himself masteâ— of all events who very far from consulting the notions and reflections written on Government and Politicks is perhaps one of those sublime Souls born to rule others and from whose examples those rules were made who is led aside by the great things he does from the pleasant and agreeable things he might read and needs only to turn over his own life and actions a man thus form'd may say safely without doing himself any prejudice that he knows nothing of Books and never reads * Men would sometimes hide their imperfections or lessen the opinion we have of 'em by confessing them freely A Blockhead laughs and says I am a very ignorant fellow A man above threescore says Iâ—m old and doating And one in want that he is wretched poor * There is either no such thing as Modesty or 't is confounded with something in it self quite different If we take it for an interior sentiment which makes a man seem mean in his own eyes this is a supernatural Vertue and we call it Humility Man naturally thinks proudly and haughtily of himself and thinks thus of no body but himself Modesty only tends to qualifie this disposition 't is an exteriour Vertue which governs our eyes conduct words tone and obliges a man to act with others to outward appearance as if is was not true that he counted them for nothing * The world is full of people who making by custom and outward appearance a comparison of themselves with others always decide in favour of their own merit and act accordingly * You say men must be modest All persons well born say the same in return then do you take care that such as give way by their modesty may not be too much tyranniz'd over and that when they bend they be not broken to pieces Thus some say people should be modest in their Dress Men of merit desire nothing more But the world are for Ornament We give it them They are covetous of superfluity and we shew it Some value others for their fine Linnen or rich silks and we cannot always refuse esteem even on these terms There are some places where a full or a thin Sword-knot will get or hinder a man admittance * Vanity and the great value we have for our selves make us imagin that others carry it very proudly towards us which is sometimes true and often false A modest man has not this kind of delicacy * As we ought to deny our selves the vanity of thinking others regard us with so much curiosity and esteem that they are always talking of our Merit and in our commendation So we should have so much confidence in our selves that we should not fancy when any whisper 't is to speak
a smoother style a more ingenâ—â—us more expressive and more convincing way of arguing adorn'd with greater vigour of expression and more natural graces than most of those modern books which aâ—e read with applause and give the greatest reputation to their authors With what satisfaction if they had any love for Religion wou'd they see it explain'd and its truth believ'd and asserted by men who were masters of so much wit ingenuity and activity of judgment Especially since any one who will but observe the vastness of their knowledge the depth of their penetration the true grounds of their Philosophy their unweary'd diligence and their capacity in unfolding holy Mysteries the reasonableness of their inferences the nobleness of their expressions the purity of their principles and morals cannot compare for example any author to St. Austin but Plato or Cicero * Man being born a lyar cannot relish the plainness and simplicity of truth He is altogether for pomp and ornament Truth is not his own 'T is made as it were to his hands and descends to him from heaven with all its perfections But self-conceited man is fond of nothing but his own productions of fables and inventions Observe the generality of men they will invent a tale they 'll add to it and load it with a thousand silly and incredible particularities And even the wisest of them are not altogether exempt from doing thus sometimes their pride and vanity drawâ— 'em in to disguise the truth and to make a story pass current they will often set it off with false circumstances If an accident happens now in your neighbourhood and as it were under your eye you may hear it related by a hundred persons a hundred different ways and whoever comes after them will make a new story of it How then shall we believe the relation of things that were done so many ages before this What relyance shall we have upon the gravest of Historians and what must become of History was Caesar murder'd in the Senate was there ever such one as Caesar you laugh at the impertinence of such questions Such doubts and inferences you think not worth your answer And indeed I can't but commend you for doing so But should I suppose that the book which gives us an account of Caesar is not a profane History that it was not writ by a man who is given to lying that is was not found by chance and promiscuously amongst other manuscripts of which some are true and others more doubtful That on the contrary it was inspir'd by God That it bears the marks of Holiness and Divinity that it hath been kept for above these two thousand years by an innumerable â—ociety of men who all this while would not allow the least alteration to be made in it and have made a part of their Religion to preserve it in all its purity nay that these men are by their own principles indispencably oblig'd to believe all the transactions contain'd in that Hisâ—ory where Caesar and all his greatness is mention'd Own it Lucilius wou'd you then question whether there ever was such a man as Caesar * All sorts of Musick are not fit for the praises of God and become not the Sanctuary As all kinds of Philosophy are not fit for the discoursing worthily of his Godhead his Power the principles of his Operations or his holy Mysteries The more abstracted and notional the more vain and useless it is in explaining these things which require no more than a sound judgment to be understood to a certain pitch and which cannot be explain'd at all beyond it To pretend to give an exact account of the Essence of God of his Perfections and if I dare to speak of his Actions is indeed more than the ancient Philosophers than the Apostles themselves or the first Teachers of the Gospel ever did But the choice of such a task is less prudent than theirs Such pretenders may dig long and dig deep but will never be the nearer to the Springs of truth If they once set aside the words Goodness Mercy Justice and Omnipotence which are apt to form in our minds so lovely and so majestick an idea of Divinity let them afterwards strain their Imaginations â—ever so much they will find nothing but dry barren and nonsensical expressions to make use of They must admit of wide and empty notions must be singular in their fancies or at least must attain to a sort of ingenious subtilty which by degrees will make them lose their Religion as fast as they improve in the knowledge of their own new Metaphysicks * What excesses will not men be transported to by their zeal for Religion which yet they are as far from believing as they are from practicing * That same Religion which men will defend so zealously and with so much heat and animosity against those who are of a quite different perswasion is incroach'd upon by themselves who fond of their own peculiar notions add or diminish from it in their minds a thousand things sometimes most material according as it suits best with their conveniencies And having thus wholly alter'd the frame of it remain stedfast and unmoveable in these their perswasions So that one may say with the vulgar of a Nation that it hath but one manner of Worship and one Religion but properly speaking it really hath many and almost every individual man in it hath one of â—is own * If Religion be nothing but a respectful fear of God what shall we think of those who dare affront him in his representatives on earth Kings and Princes â— Were we assur'd that the secret intent of the Ambassadors who came lately from Siam was to perswade the most Christian King to renounce Christianity to admit their Priests in his Kingdom to creep into Houses in order to allure by their discourses our Wives our Children and our selves into the principles of their Religion to suffer them to build Temples amongst us for the worshipping their Golden Images with what scorn and derision should we hear the relation of such a ridiculous enterprize Yet we think little of sailing a thousand leagues through the vast Ocean in order to bring over to Christianity the Kingdoms of India Siam China or Iapan that is with an intent which in the eyes of all these Nations is full as ridiculous and impertinent And they protect our Priests and other Religious men they give attention sometimes to their discourses they suffer them to build Churches and to perform all the Duties of their Mission From whence proceeds such a temper both in them and us Would not one think it came from that secret impulse which truth generally carries along with it * 'T is not becoming for all men to set up for hospitality as to have all the common beggars of the Parish daily crouding at their door and not to suffer one to go home empty But what man is there who is not sensible of the more secret wants