i 1 | I i-OF-CAII I . I I * s = => ^OF-CAllFOfe IOS-A 11^ ^ N-^f > ^laDNVSOl^ %3AI II 1 1 > i IJU |G %)JIT JIT L.OF-CAI ^l-UBRARYQ^ ^\\EUNIVER%. \ i iCil E-UNIVER ^F-CALIFO^ ^E-UNIVE^ 3 = 1 $ y 0Abv*iain^ QF-CALIFO/?^ ^l-LIBRARY^. ^\\E-UNIVER% LETTERS O N T H E ENGLISH NATION: B Y BAT IS TA ANGELO NI, A JESUIT, Who redded many years in LONDON. "T Vi CJ LL ) .. ; . . ,_ ^ __ Tfctnflated-from the Original ITALIAN, B Y T H E AUTHOR of the MARRIAGE ACT a Novel. Cupio in tantis reipublic* pcriculis non dijjblutum CICERO in Caciiinam. V O L. II. The fecond EDITION with Corredions. LONDON: Printed in the Year M DCC LVI. And fold by S. CROWDER and H. Woo DC ATE at theGakten f Bail, and ], SCOTT at the Black Swan, in Pater-nojltr Row. /\ 1756 CONTENTS. LETTER XXVII. TO the Reverend Father FABTO MARETTI, at Rome. The defcription of the country in England. page, i LETTER XXVIII. To the Reverend Father DOMINICOMANZONI, at Rome. Liberty much talked of, and lejs under- Jiood in England, than in any other country. 8 LETTER XXIX. To the Reverend Father LORENZO FRANCIO- SINI, at Rome. The fates of different philofo- pbies. 1 7 LETTER XXX. To the Reverend Father DIODATO FRANZONI, at Rome. A description of fame IVelch cuftoms. 2 7 LETTER XXXI. To the Reverend Father VINCENZO SPINELLO, at Rome. Englijh behaviour to their ferv ant* . 38 LETTER XXXII. To the Reverend Father BATISTA GUARINI, at Rome. Englijh preference offtngularity in the man, to excellence in the production, 43 A 2 LET- 865059 CONTENTS. LETTER XXXIII. To the Reverend Father PHILIPPO LAURA, at Home. --O. thtneccffi.ty of eftabljh/ng academies of -painting dtod fcttlpturs in England. p. 49 LETTER XXXIV. To the Reverend Fathdr FILIPPO BUONANNI, at Rome. All churches agree in anathematizing one another. 60 LETTER XXXV. $o the Reverend Father VINCENZO SPINELLO, at Rome. A def crip t ion of a very ftngular cha- tatter. 66 LETTER XXXVI. To the Reverend Father FILIPPO PA MPT A, at Rome. The folly of fearching after antique wafts, and adoring faints equally ridiculous. 80 LETTER XXXVII. To the Reverend Father BATISTA GUARINI, at Rome. The analogy between the minijiry of England, and that of Venice. 90 LETTER XXXVIII To the Reverend Father BATISTA GUARINI, at Rome. The French defective in the organs of bearing^ and the EngU/h in fight. 102 LETTER XXXIX. To the Reverend Father CURTIO MARINELLI, at Rome. On the reception of informers in Eng- land. 109 LET- CONTENTS. "LETTER XL. To 'tie. Reverend Father VINCENZO SPIMELLO, At Rome. On the caufe of difcontent in England. 117 LETTER XLI. To the Reverend Father LORENZO FR ANCIO- SINI, at Rome. Comparifon between the Englijh and Neapolitan common people. 126 LETTER XLII. To the Reverend Father FILIPPO BONINJ, at Rome. Thejlate of England and France. 132 LETTER XLIII. To the Reverend Father FRANCESCO BERTINI, at Rome. -Defpotic ftates "bear vaft riches, better than free. 142 LETTER XLIV. Ta the Reverend Father VINCENZO SPINE LLO, At Rome. Continual ion of the fame fubjeff. i ^ i LETTER XLV. To the Reverend Father FABIO MARETTJ, at Rome. On the effetts of preaching in England. LETTER XLVI. To the Reverend Father DOMINICO MANZONI, at Rome. On the various effefts which Italians have produced over Europe. 165 LET- CONTENTS. LETTER XL VII. To the Reverend Father DOMINICO MANZONI, at Rome. On Voltaire's mi/lakes relating to lite- rature in England. \ 70 LETTER XLVIII. To the Reverend Father FA BIO MARETTI, at Rome. On the revolution of the periods of nature, and caufe of genius. 176 LETTER XLIX. To the Reverend Father CURTIO MARINE LLI, at Rome. Tbeeffefts of printing in England. 1 88 LETTER L. the Reverend Father BATISTA GUARINI, at Rome. On the Englijh mijlakes relating to the imitating the French. 195 LETTER LI. To the Reverend Father FILIPPO BONINI, at Rome. On the French and Englijh language as adapted to mufical compofetion. 204 LETTER LIL To the Reverend Father FILIPPO PA MPT A, at Rome. Continuation of the fame fubjeft. 213 LETTER LIII. To the Marchionefs of**** at Rome, On the wiftaken manner of drejfing by the Englijh ladies. 223 LET- CONTENTS. LETTER LIV. LETTER XXX* 35 flavery, if they were obliged to wear wooden flioes ; the ideas of wooden (hoes, flavery, and French, being all link'd together in their imaginations; they would fcarce prefer them, and liberty to confinement without fhoes, and as foon wear chains, as preferve their feet from injury by thefe contrivances j the nattering idea of being free, tho' bare- footed, gives them no little confolation a- midft as much flavery as poverty and depen- dance can bequeath ; except in imagination, the place, perhaps, where that and all our pleafures begin and end. THERE is one remarkable and very effen- tial difference, between thefe people and the Scotchj the firft defend their countrymen and country in converfation, and retire, if poffible, to live amongft their relations, when they have faved fome little fortune in England ; the latter fpeak highly of Scot- land and Scotchmen, but never choofe to fee the land from whence they came. I am more inclined to think the Welchman fmcere, than the Scot, in his attachment to his coun- try ; and for this reafon, the latter being prefbyterians, from which race 1 have re- D 2 marked 3 6 LETTER XXX. marked hypocrify is almoft infeparable j the highlanders, who are epifcopolians, refera- ble the Welch. THE Inhabitants are extremely fubje<3 to anger, and to take revenge by law ; they are amongft the Englifh, what the Normans arc in France ', their paffions and parties pre- cipitate them into very ftrange decifions in their public trials, where they are jurymen > infomuch, that all difputes of confequence are carried into the cities of England to be decided by the Englilh juries, who have no partiality for either fide in the debate. THIS is what I have collected for you in Wales, and tho' not fo fafhi enable, nor the voyage fo dangerous as going to meafure the pyramids of Egypt, vifiting the catacombs and cataracts of the Nile j yet perhaps, the Welch cuftom of weddings, being put in execution in Italy, would impart as much utility as all P 's voyage, which you allure me you have lately laboured thro', I ima- gine by way of penance, inilead of killing yourfelf with a whip of thongs j furely your lent muft have been fevere, if as you tell me you LETTER XXX. you abftained during that time from all g fenfe, and lived on fuch terrible meagre. INDEED I could fend you many draw- ings of ruins from this part, but alas ! we abound with too many of them in our own country : and tho' I venerate the remains of ancient palaces and temples, I am enemy enough to that tafle, to wifh every ftone of old Rome converted into fome ufeful and habitable building, and the city in its for- mer glory and extent, tho' all the infcrip- tions and fculptures were demolimed. Hea- ven defend this and me from the eyes and tongue of virtu. I am, Tours moft facer ely. D 7 LET- LETTER XXXI. LETTER XXXI. 70 the Reverend Father V i N c E N z o SPINELLQ, at Rome. Dear S I R, JN this country profufion is luxury, and whatever cofts much money is always ex- tremely polite 5 for that reafon it is polite to dine with the nobility, where you pay the iervants for ten times as much as you eat. An open table, in this city, would ruin every man of a finall eftate to be entertained at it. ONE would be led to imagine, that the Englim were determined to deftroy all fub- ordination, by the treatment of their fer- vants ; they give them greater wages than in any country on earth ; they are better fed than all others j even the common maid fer- vants mufl have their tea twice a day, in all the parade of quality ; they make it their bargain at firft : this very article amounts to as much as the wages of fervants in Italy. BESIDES this, the money which is given to the men fervants by vifiters, makes the place of a domeflic a more con- ftderable thing, than many fmall trades, and LETTER XXXI. 39 and employment of moft ufeful artifi- cers ; this expence however is not the greateft mifchief : the fervants have very lit- tle attachment to thofe they ferve ; this dif- pofition feems to take place, from the mini- fler, to the fervants of fervants of fervants j felf is the fole motive, and that never makes a true union between thofe who ferve, and thofe who are ferved. That intereft which keeps them with you, will in a greater de- gree feparate them from you ; a fervant fe- cretly gets a better place, that is, where there are better vales, than with his prefent mailer, and leaves him in a minute j this is not efleemed a fault, becaufe it is become the general acknowledgment, that intereft ought to be the fole ruling principle of hu- man kind. The fervant hears this whilft he ftands behind his mailer's chair; he fees him pradife it in life, and like a good pupil follows his example. This method of leav- ing a matter fuddenly being no objection, if the fervant be tolerably good he finds another place, and is little felicitous about pleafing thofe he ferves ; it is from other hands he receives his chief income, and the mafler is but little regarded. D 4 IN 40 LETTER XXXL IN Italy, fervants having no dependance but on thofe they ferve, muft ftudy to obey and pleafe their matters ; that domeftic who changes his place often, lofes his character, and is reduced to great extremity. He who continues long in one houfe, has belides his prefent wages the hopes of a future fupply, by a penfion in old age, or at the death of his matter : thus the French and Italians, tho' not half fo well paid as the Englifh in their wages, not confidering their vales, are ten times better, and more obedient in their fervice ; they ttrive to pleafe for the fake of being approved of, and finding provifion when they are no longer able to work. Whereas, an Englifh fervant, knowing he has no future expectations from his matter, enjoys the prefent time, diffipates, and finds no folace by an annual penfion in his decli- ning days. In my opinion, thofe of our na- tion and France are happier than the Eng- glifh ; they have every thing for their fup- port which is neceffary, and the ambition of their matters clothes them well ; their hearts are at eafe, and their aftions encoura- ged by knowing that faithful fervice always obtains a reward for old age. I NEED LETTER XXXI. 4 , I NEED not write a farther comment, or notes, to illuftrate the truth of what has been faid ; to prove that the Englim nobility and gentry ruin their being well ferved, by a li- centious and miftaken habit of fuffering their fervants to receive money from any other perfons but themfelves. In fail, the dome- flic fcarce conceives himfelf the menial fer- vant of him who fupplies him with his daily bread and apparel, and in general has very little good-will towards him. FROM this one evil habit of giving money to fervants, the nobility of no nation appear fo mean as the Englim ; my lord looks on whilft his gueft difcharges the houfe, by paying the fervants; and no domeftics are in anycom- parifonfoinfolent and inattentive in their fer- vice, becaufe they know that it is not his Jordmip's hands from which they receive their money. THE reformation of thefe abufes will arrive with the general reformation of the nation ; when the public funds being no more able to fupply the miniflerial demand, the whole takes a new turn, and the want of money brings purer manners and more oeconomy. 3 THIS 4 2 LETTER XXXI. THIS is not fo far off as the day of judg- ment, to my eyes. The kingdom appears to me like thofe fruits which are extremely fair to the eye, aud rotten at the core 5 the malady has begun from the heart ; or like a body, which has long lain interred and un- moved, which, appearing firm and fubftan- tial to the view, is fure to tumble into duft the very firft make which it receives* THOUGH an alien and fojourner in the land, I fincerely pray, that this may be pre- vented ; there are yet an infinity of worthy people remaining amongft thofe who are nei- ther the very higheft nor very loweft ; and indeed fome in the firft, tho' they are hin- dered from their country's fervice, and as it were exiled for their virtues. Adieu, I am yours mofl affectionately < LET. LETTER XXXII. 43 LETTER XXXII. 70 the Reverend Father BATISTA GUARINI, at Rome. Dear SIR, IT is not in medicine alone, that quackery takes place in this ifland above all others - 3 it is in every other art and fcience ; painters even make their fortune in proportion, as they mix more or lefs of that with their pro- feffion and colours - y fome chufe a new man- ner of colouring, others of painting drapery, and one who would paint his figures upfide- down, would fucceed to a miracle ; but laftly, here is a prodigy arrived from Paris j a wonder who has carried all before him, and all this by dint of beard. This man be- ing extremely well acquainted with the pre- vailing paffion of this nation, and their man- ner of reafoning, which is, that if a man is extraordinary in any thing, he muft be in all ; has made the beft ufe of a beard, that any man has made of it fince the days of Adam. He goes dreft in the Perfian or Turkifh habit, with this type of wifdom reaching to his middle. THIS 44 LET T E R XXXII. THIS iingularity of drefs has given him an air of fuperiority, and credit of being a iin- gular good painter ; he has had double the price of all others ; and yet, if it was not for his beard, he would not be a better painter, nay not fo good, as many who re- fide in London. Thus, whilft he gets five and twenty guineas for a three quarters length ; Solde, who is as good at leaft as any in this kingdom, is glad to get half that money : The firft has as many as he can paint, and Solde has not fo many as he ought. At prefent the people of England feem to be more captivated with what is new, than what is extraordinary j and are more pleafed with fingularity in the perfon who produces any thing in arts and fcience, than with the production itfelf : it is this which has made this painter's performances fo valuable. They have meafured the value of his works by the length of his beard, and conclude as much in favour of the excellency of the one as the longitude of the other j it is the rarity of a painter with a beard, that has drawn him the reputation of a great mafter in his art. This is the firfl time I have known beards being the type of any thing but wifdom : If he painted in LETT E R XXXII. 45 in oil, I mould imagine he made his brumes of his beard, and fucceeded by virtue of that advantage 3 but he paints in craions. IN other parts of polite ftudies, the fame manner of thinking has often prevail'd ; here is now an inftance of a thremer, a very ho- neft man indeed, who was made a divine and librarian to the late queen at Richmond, becaufe he had found out the method of threming words into verfes ; the excellency of the work is not coafider'd, it is the won- der of a peafant's being a pcet, which gained him his living and honours, during which time many others who were good poets, were ftarving without the leaft reward. BESIDES this man, here is another mecha- nic, who is the candidate for the Laurel, af- ter the prefent poet Laureat : This man has written a very indifferent tragedy, which has had great fuccefs, becaufe it was the work of a bricklayer. IN fact, this appears to me to be extremely mortifying to men of genius j their works are not attended with efteem or honor, becaufe 46 LETTER becaufe they are the productions of men de^ ftined to ftudy, whilft thofe of a threfher or bricklayer are admired, becaufe coming from their hands. At the fame time, it is no fmall reflection on thofe who mould fupport letters, that their patronage is beftowed on fuch underftandings, and denied to men of true merit. This encouragement has already robb'd the world of two ufeful men to make two ufelefs ones - y and who knows where it may end ? Humanity would be apt to con- ceive that this arifes from want of tafle, not diftinguiming what true merit is ; and ma- lice from a mean jealoufy which will not encourage it. IN every kind of work, the excellency of the workman in general is not confidered here, as in France and Italy ; the common artift is paid almoft as well as the befl, and what can only be accomplim'd by one in a million, is as little efleemed, as that which can be performed by one in ten. FOR this reafon it is that the moft exqui- fite works in graving, fculpture, and paint- ing, can with difficulty be brought to the bigheft I L E T T E R XXXII. 47 higheft perfection in London. An artift 'muilftarve if he waited to give his pieces the laft finifhings; he gets as much money by doing well, as if he excelled all the world ; whereas in France and Italy, he would be paid any price for that which no other could do, and not half what he receives in England for executing what he perform'd only as well as many other artifts. This is therefore the land at prefent for mediocrity in all things, and exclusion of excellency in any. IN what I have faid, there is not one word to be applied to the mechanic inftruments of ufe ; they are finimed to a degree of perfec- tion, that is not to be feen in any other coun- try : Utility is the reigning idea of all that is done here, and tafte in that of Paris j for which reafon England has the trade in one kind, and France in the other. And tho' a fine imagination may not be fo much pleafed with the Englim as the French productions ; yet conveniency makes a good amends for a fmall deficiency in figure; and not one in, twenty, but is better pleafed with the polifli and hinge, than with the defign of a whole performance. All fee, but few have any tafte. IN 48 LETTER XXXII. IN all objedls which are offered to the eye, the French have an elegance and tafte which is much beyond that of England, and the Englifh finim the French deiigns better than their own workmen : Ornaments in dia- monds are much better difpofed at Paris than London, and the fetting much better in this city than in France. ONE refpe&s the elegant fancy, and the other the elegant hand of the jeweller j and thus in mod kinds of manufactures, the de- figns of France mould be combined with the execution of England, to make a production perfecl. FROM what has been faid you may be in- clined to believe, that, as tafte and defign are the efFecls of genius, and elegant finiming the confequence of patience and a mechanic hand, the French furpafs the Englim in ge- nius : this is by no means true, I believe ; and my next mail bring you the reafons. Adieu, / am your 3 affeffionately. LET- LETTER XXXIII. 49 LETTER XXXIII. To the Revefend Father PH 1 1, i p p o L AU RA, ^ Rome. Dear SIR, TH E gentlemen of no nation in Eu- rope travel fo much, as thofe of this kingdom, into foreign countries. A man that has not feen Italy is fcarce polite com- pany in London : Even Palmyra, hid in de- ferts, could not fave her ruins from the ex- amination of Englifh travellers. Two gentlemen have vilited that place, accompanied with another who understood architecture and drawing; in confequence of which, they have given to the public the ruins of that ancient city, in feveral well exe- cuted prints ; and an account of its former and prefent ftate, as far as can be drawn from hiftory and thofe remains, in the moft pleating manner, written with exquifite tails and modefty. It has been the particular ho- nor of England, to have fome of their no- bility and gentry in private Nations to per- VOL. II. E foroa 50 LETTER XXXIIf. form undertakings, worthy the royal encou- ragement ; and its peculiar difgracc to have had their minifters negligent in every thing, that may do honor and bring utility to the public. No nation is at fo much expence to vifit the works of art, which other kingdoms have produced, as this of England. Italy has received more money from the gentle- men of England, for feeing the paintings of the Italian fchools, than they originally coil from the hands of the painters j probably more than a hundred times f that fum ; to fay nothing of that vaft number of paintings, which have been fold to this and other na- tions. It is really equal to an eftate or tax levied on England, and may not unjuftly be called Peter's- pence ; it brings vaft fums in- to Rome annually, not to mention that op- portunity which our painters have, from co- pying the works of their predeccflbrs, and felling them for originals to the connoiffeurs of all nations. WHAT (hall we fay, after having feen with what avidity the Eng'iili vifit all theie pro- digies LETTER XXXIII. 5 j digies of gejiiusin arts andfculpture, alRome and other Italian cities, when at their return they grow indifferent about the promoting iimilar performances in their own nation, and rivaling the artills of others. ENGLAND has not yet produced a good face-painter, much lefs an hiftorical ; of all the works of the prefent performers who have been born in England, there is not one of them will be afked of whofe hand it is, forty years hence j and perhaps the whole production of one mailer, amafs'd together, will not fell at that time for as much money as was given originally for one of them : they have almoft reduced face-painting to a me- chanic art, and make pourtraits as they make pins j one forms the head, another the point, I dare fay, the time will come, when there will be as many painters to finifh a whole- length figure, as there are now trades to equip a beau : the face-painter, the wig- painter, the cloaths-pairjter, the linen -paint- er, the (locking- painter, and the (hoe-paint- er. For as money is the purfuit, and honor very little called into queftion ; as mens me- rits are lefs the caufe of their luccds, than E 2 the 52 LETTER XXXIII. the patronage of fome great man ; and future fame outweigh'd by prefent money, in all opinions ; it is probable, from what has al- ready been put in practice by thofe who have gotten the greateft fortunes, that this liberal art will be reduced to as mechanical an ope- ration, as making hobnails, that fortunes may be made with the utmoft expedition. A s things are at prefent managed, it is no encouragement to be excellent in the art of painting : a falfe praife effectually carries any man into a run for five or fix years ; they cry he is the befl painter in England ; he has all the people of tafte fitting to him : what exquifite drawing, what delicious co- louring, what perfect likenefs ! At the ex- piration of this term, he is no more heard of, than if he had never exifted; like a ghoil that haunts a houfe, every one's converfation, and concern, till time cures the belief, and leaves it no longer a ghoft. This is equally the event, whether he has, or has not me- rit ; the fame, and the run of bufinefs be- gin and die together : it is for this reafon, that the painters of England are lefs felici- tous about ftudying their profefiion, than finding LETTER XXXIIL 53 finding a blear-eyed patron, who with zeal for what he can neither fee nor underftand, may impofe upon others, and fwell him in- to high reputation. AN academy of painting eftablimed like that at Paris, where all the pictures of their matters are feen for a whole month, once every year in a public exhibition, would de- ftroy thefe falfe methods of getting into re- putation : pictures beheld together by thofe eyes which are not judges of them apart, would have a very different appearance ; the artift of real merit would not fland in need of a puffing patron to get him bufinefs, nor the unfkilful painter have the power of im- pofing on the world, by the artifice of an impetuous and ill-judging protector ; till this is once accompli/hed it is in vain to expect works of merit, the love of fame will be lulled to fleep by the opium of money, and the heart at eafe about the firft which is fa- tisfied with the fecond. LET an academy and an exhibition take place, and, for the future, reputation and profit will be the fame thing, and the fame E 3 path $4 LETTER path conduct to both poffeffions j the temple of fame will not ftand at the end of an unr frequented bramble grown path as it does at prefent, and fome fquint-eyed patron in atti- tude of admiration at fome miferable produc- tion at the end of another, along which the painters crowd, asDon Quivedo has defcribed his people in the vifion of the loving fools. IF the late prince of Wales had lived, an eilablifhment of this kind would probably have taken place in his reign j he was a lo- ver of the imitative arts, and would have en- couraged them j the prefent, who is a young prince of great expectation and promife, is not yet blown fufficiently to fhew all that diversity and elegancy of -tints, which is ex- pected from the appearance of the flower in the bud. WHATEVER may be the event, an acade- my for painting i certainly worthy a royal inftitutipn and protection, if it be but to fe- cure the trade of this nation, on which the revenue io much depends : an eftablimment of that nature has more influence on the ppmmerce of a people, than perhaps is com- 3 LETTER XXXIU. 55 nionly imagined j and, tho' it may never produce one good painter, will bring many thoufand pounds annually into the ifland. How many trades are there whofe mer- chandize takes its great value, from thetafte in which they are executed ; toys of all kinds, and moft forts of furniture for elegant houfes ; the form of a gold fnuff-box mail fell it with an alloy of ten per cent, when fterling gold fhall He unafked for, becaufe of the aukwardnefs of the make ; this the French are fo fenfible of, that they allow that alloy to be mixt with all toys in that metal : what beau minds the movement of a watch, if the cafe be elegantly defigned ? the fame runs through the whole of thefe things which depend on fancy, from the pat- tern of a fixpenny ribband to the deareft lilk, tapeflry, velvet, and carpets. AN academy therefore, once eflablimed in painting, if it never produced any very ex- cellent painters, would yet create excellent defigners for the ornamental parts of all kinds of manufactures ; the Englifh enamelled boxes would vie with the papier mache of E 4 Paris, 56 LETTER XXXIII. Paris, and the Germans purchafe their rnofl valuable furniture from England, and not from France, As great numbers of people from the cheapnefs of the education could apply their children to it, every lad educated in this way, whofe talents were not adequate to great things, would be obliged to turn his hand tofome lower part of the arts of fculp- ture and painting : he who could not equal Michael Angelo, or Raphael, might carve a chimney-piece, and paint a coach with much taite; thofe who could not rival Salvator Rofa, Claud Lorain, or Vernet, might yet paint landfcapes on china and enamelled ware, and by export make thefe commodi- ties the univerfal purchafe of the globe j this will certainly be the advantageous confe- quences of an academy once eftablimed. IT is alfo a demonftration, that without thefe helps it is impoflible to carry the com- jnon capacities of men to their greateft ex- cellence. A genius who has an imagination as vivid and extenfive as can be fuppofed, who combines and difpofes figures ever fo elegantly LETTER XXXIII. 57 elegantly in his head, may yet want the lan- guage of a painter, drawing and expreffion j tho' the firft is the gift of heaven, the latter is the effect of fludy ; and notwithstanding fome men are born with greater aptitude to defign than others, as fome are with more facility of fpeaking, yet it muft be the work of application to draw well, or form a ftyle in writing, the former of which is much more difficult than the latter j as the laft may- be made every moment's fludy in common converfation, the other requires a feparate attention and practice : as in learning a lan- guage, thofe who begin late fcarce ever attain a pure pronunciation ; thofe little differences f found and articulation which efcape the fpeaker, are clearly diftinguimed by the hear- er, and impart an inaccuracy and diflbnance to their pronunciation j fo in like manner, thofe who begin to draw late in life are al- ways imperfect in their defigns, thofe little inexplicable differences which create the grace and beauty of a figure, are entirely loft in their works and imperceptible to themfelves ; the eye has formed its manner of feeing, and the fingers of moving, before they began their ftudies, and, lik? the organs of fpeech, or thofe 58 LETTER XXXIII. thofe of hearing, are neither capable of that conformation necefTary to make or diftlnguiili thofe minuteneffes, which place one produc- tion fo luperior to another in tafte and grace- fulnefs. THAT which determines a lad to be bred a painter in this country, is his father's fee- ing fome of his fcrawls on his books with a pen, or on the walls with a charcoal ; he is a genius in drawing inftantly, and this de- cides his employment j whereas, in fact, this talent is the lean: of a painter ; if he docs not fee nature as fhe is, and has not a fertile imagination, he never can be made an excel- lent artift; loofe imitations almoft all can make -, he may be a dauber and nothing more, as is manifeft from the thoufands which have been condemned to this art un- fuccefsfully : it has already robbed the pub- lic of too many members, who would have been ufeful in other branches of trade, to make miferable pourtrait-painters, the moft ufelefs of all employments which belong to man. I N the neighbouring country of Ireland, the gentlemen have appointed premiums, as in- LETTER XXXIII. 59 incentives to excelling, for thofe young paint- ers who fhall produce the moft approved pieces ; this is the beft fupply to the want of an academy, where premiums muft always be inftituted alfo : this may in time make painters of merit in Dublin ; indeed, many of the Englim would do well to go thither at prefent, if it were but to recover the love' of their country, which yet finds protectors amongft the commons of Ireland -, men who are not amamed to prefer it to themfelves. Whether it be fatality, inattention, or ig- norance, which reigns over the under/land- ings of this people of England, I cannot de- cide; fomething however, of that kind feems to rule all their actions of a public nature, J am. Tour moft obedient. LET- 60 LETTER XXXIV. LETTER XXXIV. 70 the Reverend Father F i L i p p o B u o N A N N i, at Rome. Dear S i R, THERE is nothing which is fo often objected to the catholics, as that un- charitable tenet of giving all heretics to the devil, believing that none of them can be faved, and keeping no faith with them. THIS indeed is an imputation which fa- vours very little of chriftianity, and was it carried into practice, and to influence our actions, would be extremely pernicious and truly deteftable. I HAVE obferved, that churches, or feels, adopt certain articles in their belief, which are difavowed in their practice -, and men become much the fame in their actions, tho' their tenets in fome particulars may differ, if they are held by any at all. The church of England are predeftinarians by their arti- cles, and preach free-will , the diflenters al- 2 low LETTER XXXIV. 61 low free-will, and preach predeftination. But let us fee if the church of England, and dif- fenters, are quite free from this imputation of damning thofe who differ from them. The creed of St. Athanafius is the creed of the Englifh church, which, after recounting the articles neceffary to be believed, fays, this " is the catholic faith ; which except a man " faithfully believe, he cannot be faved." WHAT is there in condemning people to external punimment in our religion, more criminal than in theirs j it is true, we believe thofe articles as well as the church of Eng- land, they are therefore no condemnation of catholics, but they are of all other reli- gious fects of chriftianity, which do not think as they do : thus, they are equally guilty of the crime they impute to us, and unjuft in the taxation. I am convinced from the behaviour of thofe catholics who are na- tives of this kingdom, that their word and honor is as feldom violated, as thofe of a PrelByteriajj or of any other fedary, who condemns this tenet in our church with fo much virulence. THE 62 LETTER XXXIV. THE Spaniards, the moft rigid of all ca- tholics, even thofe in commerce have pre- ferved a punctuality with the Engli-fli during the time of war, by returning them the ef- fects in their hands, or tranfacting their af- fairs, in a manner which does honor to hu- man kind 3 yet, the Engliih are confidered as heretics by thefe people. Thus, acknow- ledging this tenet to be one of the Romiili church, is it not one of the Englifh alfo ? and the influence to ill-will is no greater with us than with them : in fact, as it is contra- dictory to all the practice of religion, fo it never influences the mind of any chriftian. Methinks, this one article is lefs likely to difpofe the mind of a human being, to put its dictates in practice, in oppofition to all others by which we fuppofe ourfelves bound to do good, than the natural felfimnefs of man let loofe by the opinion that every man has a right to think for himfelf, and act in confequence of it, which is the fhnding tenet of the diffenters. I FANSY a fcale might be crude of the probity of all fects, which depart from the cfhblifhed religion of any nation, gradually lefTen. LETTER XXXIV. 63 leflening, as they are more diftant from the tenets of the national church j at lead, fome- thing of that kind appears to me aoiongft the fectaries of England j I know not what Scotland would produce, perhaps, the quite contrary, hypocrify being the infeparable companion of that eftablrfhme.nt. THE tranfa cYions of catholics being as ho- neft as thofe of any other church, it appears, that this tenet does not much influence their behaviour in life towards their fellow-crea- tures, and probably an Eye that will look a little farther into things than the furface, will find that this affair of excluding people from falvation is the infeparable idea of all the fedaries, tho' not openly avowed : to what purpofe, or on what pretence was it, that the Prefbyterians feparated from the church of England, but becaufe they conceived that the eftablimed worihip had fomething in it which is wrong in its modes and articles of belief, or, which is the fame thing, that it does not lead to falvation ? now that which does not lead to falvation leads fomewhere clfe, and thus, they believe that all other chriftians are not faved 3 indeed they will 64 LETTER XXXIV. will not avow this openly, but if they dd not, they lofe all argument and plea for fe- paration ; all other confiderations below that of being in danger of not being faved, being infinitely too fmall for the making new fedts, and dividing the fentiments of a na- tion in a matter fo efTentially neceffary, as that of being held by one uniting principle in religion. PERHAPS this belief of all religions being lefs likely to fave the foul of man, than that which each follows, is infeparable, and muft be fo, from [all true believers of what they profefs. If our own is not beheld in that favourable light, above others, if all religions are alike in our opinion, we mall be adlu- ated by none; preference being abfolutely neceffary in all things, to put the mind of man into action, and make it influenced by any motive : thus this particular belief, and that in religion, feem to be fecretly united for ever together, in the minds of all be- lievers. A PHILOSOPHER then, who is not miflcd by the will-a-wifp of words, or dazzled by the L E T t E R XXXIV. 65 the aurora borealis of falfe pretenfions, fees that at the bottom thefe terrible imputations againft us by the fedtaries; are really found in their own principles of feparation ; and in truth, the belief of not being obliged to keep faith with heretics, has influenced the morals of catholics, as little as that of being obliged by nothing, or taking the liberty of thinking for themfelves amongft the dhTent- ers ; a fpecies of beings which has never been remarkable for lenity, when they have had power, or charitable thoughts for thofe that differ from them; FROM much obfervation and in juftice to the Englilh church, I own it has a genero- iity belonging to it, which has almoft ruined itfelf by indulgence to feclaries ; and per- haps a liberality of fentiment, to be found in, no other ; greater than the feeble condition of human nature is able to bear and be well governed ; indulgence, in extremes, creates difTatisfa&ion in all things. I am your mft obedient few ant, VOL. II. F LET- 66 LETTER XXXV, LETTER XXXV/ To the Reverend Father VINCENZO SPINELLO at Rome. Dear S i R, I Have often told you, that this ifland teems with more characters, than are to be found in a-ny nation upon earth, and probably as many as are upon the face of the globe. Every other nation has fomething which characterizes its people, and makes it vifibly belong to one government ; but in England the idea of liberty has reduced the minds of the inhabitants to a ftate of nature, as near as pofllble : this arifes from this tenet, that in religion as in government, all men are to think-and acfl for themfelves, which has taken off all reftraint in behaviour. INDEED, this is not the avowed fentiment of all ranks of people : thofe of the eftablifh- ed church allow, that the king has a right to decide and determine in matters relating to religion ; that he has prerogatives and power, which are truly his ; and yet the miniftry of late years, who have been all 2 Whigs LETTER XXXV. 67 Whigs in politics, and of the effoblimed re- ligion in matters of faith j if of any (except one prefbyterian or two, flipt into high places) have diminifh'd the power of the one, and tacitly difavowed the authority of the other, tho' the goverment has not been changed by any law whatever* THIS prevailing opinion in the two moft effential confiderations of life, has borne down all other minuter influences j there is no uni- form, eftablifh'd behaviour amongft the peo- ple in this kingdom, as you fee in other places : The very moment an Englishman becomes rich enough to think himfelf inde- pendent, his firft pleafure is, to mew that he does not care a fixpence for any one, by his behaviour and converfation, and to let himfelf loofe to the influence of his ruling o whimfy : I fpeak now of all thofe, who rife to great fortunes of their own acquiring : by this means in a London cofFee-houfe, a place for fociety and converfation, you fee in their faces that thefe men are lefs fociable crea- tures, if they are filent, than in the inhabi- tants of Paris, as they walk the ftreets ; a ftern negative fpreading itfelf over the coun- F z tenances 68 LETTER XXXV. tenanccs of the firft, and a look of invitation en thofe of the latter : if they fpeak, it is ap- parently to pleafe themfelves ; the French, tho' with the fame defign, yet appearing to pleafe others. IT is in this ifle an inviolable maxim, that every man of fortune has a right to fpend his money as he pleafes : by this it appears, that neither cuftom nor government influencing the behaviour of thefe people, there are few that diffufe their money as they ought, but each man's prevailing whim decides of him in all things. FROM this principle it naturally happens that one is all horfe-jockey, another fox- hunter j this up to the ears in play, another eternally in taverns and brothels ; one ram- bling from place to place at an expence above his income ; this buys pictures, nick-nacks/ and virtu, till he has not a houfe to put them in, and that purchafes a feat in parlia- ment for feven years at the price of half his eftate (the whole of which was not before that time large enough for his expences) at the expiration of which term, he finds him- felf LETTER XXXV. 69 felf difappointed in his expectations, and without an acre of land. IF Mr. Locke's opinion of madnefs and idi- otifm are juft, thefe men ought to come un- der one or other of thefe definitions. Mad- men put wrong ideas together, and fo make abfurd proportions, but argue and reafon right from them ; but idiots make very few proportions, and reafon fcarceatall: to which of thefe does the greateft number belong ? ME THINKS this definition of madnefs is extremely imperfect, becaufe almoft all En- glimmen, and philofophers who differ from one another, muft come under that denomi- nation in each other's opinion ; thus Defcar- tes, who would explain all the motions of the planets by tourbillons, reafon'd very well from that proportion, tho' it was falfe, and yet I believe Sir Ifaac Newton never imagi- ned him a madman ; and Defcartes, in like manner, if he had lived at the time of Sir Ifaac, would not have conceived that great man a lunatic, tho' he had never been con- verted to his doctrines. F 3 I 70 LETTER XXXV. I HAVE often imagined, that the infide of the head of a man in his fenfes, and that of a madman, are not fo totally different, as we are apt to imagine : if another perfon could fee and write down all the ideas which pafs in our brains in a week ; the refolutions, irrefolutians, hopes, fears, caftle-buildings, reafonings, &c. ; the perfon himfelf, from whom the picture was drawn, forgetting what had palfed in his mind, would declare thefe were the reveries of a lunatic. MADNESS then feems to confift in believ^ ing all thofe things to be realities, which the mind images to itfelf, and acting in confe- quence of it ; the latter part makes the effen- thl difference. For, tho'a man mould be- lieve himfelf a king, and never behave in confequence of that imaginary character, he would not be deem'd a madman ; in like manner one, whofe actions were directed with the air and manner of a fovereign, tho' he did not believe himfelf a king, would yet be confider'd as a man who had loft his rea- fon. Thus, it is the behaviour which confli- tutes the real idea of madnefs, and the con* ^ealment of our thoughts the man of fenfe ; in LETTER XXXV. 71 in this nation however, the a&ions of men muft be very extraordinary, before the denomina- tion of lunacy can be imputed to them. SOME time fince here was a merchant, whofc name was Spencer, who lived in a garret, without common necelTaries -, he valued him- felf much on living on a (hilling a day, and pofTefiing eight thoufand pounds a year : this proceeding was not looked upon as madnefs in this country, and yet in Italy, it would have moft inevitably been confider'd as direct luna- cy, and have confined him to an hdfpital. On the other hand an anchorite, who had renoun- ced oppulence and fplendour to live in a cell, beneath fome little hillock, upon that which his own hands can produce, croffing himfelf ten times a minute in devotion on his knees, before a crucifix, would be confider'd as a faint in Italy, and a madman in England ; thefe different conclufions fpring from the fame caufe. Riches are fo much eftecmed in this country, that all kinds of extravagancies in behaviour, which lead to the poffeffing that ineftimable bleffing, appear with fome degree of reafon ; and paradife is confider'd in that light amongft the people of Italy, and totally forgotten in this. F 4 THUS, 7 2 LETTER XXXV. THUS, what looks like madnefs in one na- tion, to the eyes of a ftranger, may be re- ceived as reafonable by the inhabitants them- felves : a widow in fome parts of India thinks it highly reafonable to run into the funeral pile, which confumes her hufband ; and in England into the arms of a new fpoufe as foon as (he can. AFTER this long dhTertation, give me leave to defcribe a character of a man, who happened to die vyhilfl I was ,on a journey, at a town in Devonfhire. What I (hall tell you, was related to me by gentlemen of un- doubted fincerity, every one acquiefcing in the truth of it ; the whole appear'd fo fingu- lar at that time, that I could not avoid taking minutes of his life, which I fliall herewith fend you. His name was Stucley, a gentleman of a very ancient family, and of ,an eftate of a thoufand pounds a year ; in his youth he was bred to the law, and during this time ap- peared to have more of that principle in his foul which the Newtonians call the vis inertia. .In matter, than is to be found in almoft any man ; LETTER XXXV. 73 man ; when put into motion he was extreme* ly apt to continue fo, and being at reft he hated moving : by this difpofition, when he was prevail'd on by his companions to pafs, an evening in gaiety, he never defired to change that manner of living, and would have perfifted in it for ever, if he could have prevail'd on them to continue with him, be- ing then as eccentric and as inclined to mo- tion as a comet ; in like manner, when he had once become fedentary by two or three days tarrying at his chambers, he hated the thoughts of being put into action again, and was always difficultly brought abroad, like a heavy ftone, which has lain fome time in one place on the ground, and formed itfelf a bed, out of which it is not eafily removed. WHEN he left London, he retired into the country, filled with the project of perfecting the perpetual motion $ this naturally kept him much at home in purfuit of this ftudy : and as no one in the town had refolution enough to reafon with him on the affair, or was of import enough to make him change fcis defign ; that habit of perfifting in one way kept him at home entirely. During the cpurfe 74 LETTER XXXV. courfe of more than thirty years, he never came abroad but once, which was, when he was obliged to take the oath of allegiance to king George the firft ; this was the only time he changed his fhirt, garments, or fhaved himfelf, for the whole time of his retire- ment : he was a very little man, and at once the moft nafty and cleanlieft perfon alive ; wafting his hands twenty times a day, and neglecting every other part : during this con- finement, he never had his bed made. Af- ter he had given over all hopes of fuccefs in the perpetual motion, he took pleafure in obferving the works and policy of ants, and flock'd the whole town fo plenteoufly with that infect, that the fruits in the gardens were devour'd by them, DURING the reign of the immortal queen Anne, whenever the duke of Marlborough opened the trenches againft any city in Flan- ders, he broke ground at the extremity of a floor in his houfe, made with lime and fand, according to the cuftom of that country, and advanced in his approaches regularly with his pick-axe, gaining work after work, chalk'd out on the ground according to the intelligence LETTER XXXV. 75 intelligence in the gazette ; by which he took the town in the middle of the floor at Bide- ford, the fame day his grace was matter of it in Flanders ; thus every city coft him a, pew floor. DURING the time of his flaying witLia doors, he never fat on a chair, and when he chofe to warm himfelf, he had made a pit before the fire, into which he leapt, and thus fat on the floor, HE fufFerad no one to fee him, but the heir of his eftate, his brother and fifler ; the firft never but when he fent for him, and that very rarely 5 the others fometimes once a year, and fometimes feldomer, when he was chearful, talkative, an4 a lover of the tittle- tattle of the town, His family confided of two fervant maids, one of which flept in the houfe, the other not: notwithftanfling this fingularity and ap- parent avarice, he was by no means a lover of money - } for, during this whole time, he had never received nor afked for any rent frqna many of his tenants, and thofe who brought 76 LETTER XXXV. brought him money, he would often keep at an inn more than a week, pay all their expences, and difmifs them back again with* out receiving a milling. HE lived well in his houfe, and frequently gave to the poor ; always eat from large joints of meat, and never faw any thing twice at his table ; and at Chriftmas he di- vided a certain fum of money amongft the neceflitous of the town. HE feemed to be afraid of two things on- ly ; one, being kill'd for his riches $ the o- ther, being infected with a difeafe 5 for which reafons he would fend his maid fome- times to borrow a half crown from his neigh^ bours, to hint he was poor ; and always re- ceived the money which was paid him, in a bafon of water, to prevent taking infection from thofe who paid him, HE never kept his money under lock and key, but piled it up on the {helves, before the plates in his kitchin. In his chamber, into which no fervant had entered during the time of his tarrying at home, he had two LETTER XXXV. 77 two thoufand guineas on the top of a low chefl of drawers, cover'd with duft, and five hundred lying on the floor, where it lay five and twenty years; this laft fum a child had thrown down which he was fond of playing with, by overfetting a table that flood upon one foot ; the table continued in the fame fituation alfo : thro* this money he had made two paths, by kicking the pieces on one fide, one of which led from the door to the win- dow, the other from the window to the bed. WHEN he quitted the Temple in London, he left an old portmanteau over the portal of the antichamber, where it had continued many years, during which time the cham- bers had panned thro* feveral hands ; when at length, the gentleman who poffefled them ordering his fervant to pull it down, it broke by being rotten, and out fell four or five hundred pieces of gold, which were found to belong to him from the inclofed papers ; this he had never examined after : It is ge- nerally fuppofed alfo, that he had put fome thoufand pounds in the hands of a banker, or lent it to fome tradefman in London, without taking any memorandum of it from the ?8 LETTER XXXV. the perfon ; all which is loft to his heirs, as he would never fay to whom he lent it, thro 1 fear perhaps left he fhould hear it was loft, which fome minds can bear to fufpect tho' not to know pofitively: after more than thirty years living a reclufe, he was at laft found dead in his bed covered with lice. And thus ended the life of this whimfical being. The gentleman who gave me this account was a man of excellent underftanding, and who accompanied him to the town-hall when he went to take the oath of allegiance; he allured me, that in all the queftions- he could propofe on every fubjecl: he could think on, he did not (hew the leaft tin&ure of madnefs ; he rallied himfelf on the perpe- tual motion, laughed at the folly of confining fcimfelf in-doors, and faid he believed he mould now come abroad again like other men ; he was always efteemed a perfon of good underftanding before his (hutting him- felf up: at the time of his death he was building a houfe, the walls of which were feven foot thick, probably his fears of being murdered increafing with his age (I think he was more than feventy) induced him to build this caftle-like dwelling to defend him from LETTER XXXV. 79 from the attacks of thieves. This gentleman then, if he was lunatic, which none of his friends ever fuppofed him, feems to be fo in the manner I have before mentioned, by putting all the reveries and whimfies of the human brain into action, and being uncheck- ed by all external influence j a man of this ftamp with a turn to devotion, would have been canonized as a faint in Italy. Thus, Sir, I have fent you a very fingular, and very true pourtrait, which I hope you will confider as natural philofophers do the extraordinary productions of human nature, where the vifcera are tranfpofed, or any de- viation from the common way of her pro- ductions : for tho' I look upon one refearch or difcovery of the univerfal principles of na- ture, beyond a thoufand of its irregular pro- ductions j yet, I hope in eomplaifance to the reigning tafle in this kingdom, you will re- ceive this with as much diftinction as a fix- legged rabbit j a two-headed lamb, or a double- bodied chicken, Would be, by what is atpre- fcnt called a Philofopher in England, I am, Tour moft obedient. > LET- 86 LETTER XXXVI. LETTER XXXVI. 70 the Reverend Father F i L i p p a PAMPTA, at Rome. Dear SIR, IS it a paradox to fay, that folly and phi- lofophy in many cafes are very near a-kin ; and that what is defpifed as fuperftition and weaknefs in one nation, may be efteemed as - reafonable and praife-worthy in another. FASHION reigns in all the occupations of human nature, in philofophy, and religion, as well as in drefs and diverlions ; tilts and tournaments, are no more in England, horfe- races and fox-hunting fupply that place : the mind muft be engaged, tho' we change the purfuit, and tho' the objedls of the year 1500 become totally neglected and defpifed, yet thofe in fafhion in 1750, have neither more truth, nor more good fenfe belonging to them, than the former ; alius et idem na- fcitur is equally applicable to funs, men, famions. WHEN religion was the reigning mode, re- licks of faints were very acceptable to every one 5 LETTER XXXVI. 81 s nail of the true crofs, a finger of St. Peter, a bone of St. Benedict, were efteemed wor-. thy the regard of every one, however exalted in life and riches, and prefervedin ilirines of gold and filver. Chriftians conceived that thole who had been illuftrious in piety, or propagating their faith> deferved efteem and reverence for the advantages they had be-r queathed to mankind, and the examptes which they had fet before therrh IN this nation, that manner of thinking is at an end, becaufe religion is no longer in fafhion. LET us however, fee whether the folly i$ cured by the reformation, or whether the fame humour is not broke out in fome other (hape. Are not the prefent Antiquarians of England as ridiculous to the full, as the chrif. tians of our country who pay great efteem to the relicks of faints ? always remembring that the meaneft capacities are thofe which are fubject to this attention in Italy, and thefe which call themfelves the highefl in this kingdom to the other. VOL. II. G AN 82 LETTER XXXVI. AM Italian peafant believes, that the efflu- via from the fhrine of St. Anthony can cure him of a difeafe $ he hangs up a waxen leg as a votive offering of gratitude for a limb prefervedj and by this means feels the high- efl fenfation of joy, which a human creature is capable of conceiving ; thus, this folly is not without its pleafure attending it. A PHILOSOPHER believes he pofTeiTes the very knife that directed the heartlefs ox, at the facrifice which Caefar made before his being aflaflinated ; this is a curiofity not to be efteemed fufficiently, it becomes the envy of every antiquarian, the eternal caufe of fighing, the moft rare of all the rare things upon earth. An Italian catholic has the chalice which St.Jerom ufed in the communion of the Eu- charift, and values it amazingly - t he would rather part with any thing, than that which was employed by the hands of that pious man. WHICH is the moft abfurd credulity ? He who imagines himfelf pofleffed of what has no proof belonging to it, or, he who believes that LETTER XXXVI. 83 that this chalice will defend him from dif- eafe and injury ? THE objects of this faith are different in- deed, but the ridicule in each is equally flriking ; is it not to the full as unworthy the dignity of that great reafoner, man, to give credit to a knife's being preferved fince the time of that facrifice, that it has fallen into his hands, and then value it for that reafon ? as it is to believe the chalice of St. Jerom has the power of preferving human nature from evil ? INDEED, the chriftian facrifice is much out of famion, and the pagan highly conii- dered amongft antiquarians 5 one difgraced by the name fuperftition, the other exalted by that of philofophy, and virtu j Casfar a- dored as a genius and general, and Chrift reduced to a carpenter's fon. YET to every eye uninfluenced by preju- dice, what comparifon is there between the two, even confidered as human beings ? One brought death on his countrymen, and fla- very on his native land -, the latter died to fave mankind, and left behind him a doc- G 2 {rine 8 4 LETTER XXXVI. trine which contains all that is neceffary for the felicity of man; it abfolutely recalled mankind from that depreciating ftate of dei- fying the worfl of mortals, and replaced it in the regions of virtue ; yet, the commen- taries of Caefar, which convey to us devafta- tion and destruction, (hall be read with de- light j whilft the Evangelifts, who preach peace, purity of heart, and good- will towards men, are reckoned a matter not worth the notice of a philofopher, unlefs, perad venture, he has fome defign to attempt proving that the accounts they contain are not true. ASK an impartial and philofophic examiner, which is the moft reafonable creature ? he who feeks comfort from the fhrine of St. Francis j or he who delighteth his foul with porTeffing Cleopatra's patch-box, or the earthen faucepan in which Diogenes flewed his cabbage ? The firft rejoices in the poflef- lion, becaufe he imagines there is fome hid- den virtue belonging to it ; the latter be- came it belonged to fome fingular perfon, and a thing which no man elfe has ; which, notwithstanding that thought, is the moft trivial upon the face of the earth, all fingu- LETTER XXXVI. 85 far things being fo in nature, becaufe the moft ufelefs; the common air, common earth, common water, common fire, as they are the moft univerfal, are alfo the moft ex- cellent of all things ; thefe are objects too great for the enquiry of the prefent philofo-* phers, as purfuits worthy of efteem are for the antiquarians. THE man who would explain to us what cuftoms made ancient nations happy, and (hew us why they were fo in confequence of it j who would inveftigate the fources of good government, and adopt the plan which will conduce moft effectually to happinefs ; 1 develope the faculties of man, affign objedls proper to each, and convince us that ancients and moderns are by nature inferior to the pride of the ftoic, and juftly analyzing the whole foul, mew its component parts as they are, would be received with much lefs glee amongft the antiquarians, than he who mould read a long diflertation upon the fhape of the Clepfydra, the Triclinia, and candlefticks of the ancient Romans ; the difcoverer of the laft would be more confidered as a man of genius, than he who invented the machine G3 tQ 86 LETTER XXXVI. to draw water from the loweft mines by the powers of fteem, or the ventilator which brings a public benefit to our fpecies : fuch is the prefent value of frivolous and trifling purfuits, and the neglect of ufeful and inge- nious enquiries in London. I F we penetrate to the heart of the de- Votce and the antiquarian, the adorer of re- licks, and the adorer of virtu 5 we (hall find, that the whole value of the lamp which lighted St. Auguftin to his devotions in his cell, and that which illumined the cave of Demoflhenes in his fludies, arife from an over-pious belief that men of exemplary vir- tue communicate fomething of that nature to all they pofTefs } and an over- weaning cre- ilulity that men of genius impart to all they life, a fiiare of their intellectual pofTeffions : this can only be the caufe of their admiration, and is equally ridiculous in the devotee and antiquarian ; the objects, without this pre- vious knowledge to whom they belonged, imparting nothing which creates attention or furprize. The lanthorn with which Dio- genes fearched for an honeft man at mid-day in the Greets of Athens, being in no other fenfe LETTER XXXVI. 87 fenfe a greater curioiity, than that of Tom Davis a watchman, which lights him in his rounds, in Loridon paft twelve at midnight. THUS then, when I fee the people of pre- tended wifdom gaping with aftonifhment, and grafping with defire, the knives, door- hinges, bafons and utenfils dug from Hercu- laneum, becaufe they are ancient j I cannot avoid laughing at the attention which thefe philfophers pay thofe fcrifles, and rank them with the devout adorers of the relicks of St. Anthony > St. BenedicT:, and St. Francis, WHOEVER has much obferved human na- ture, muft know it too well to behold the former or the latter with much furprize j it is the condition of feeble man to fearch re- l!ef from fuch objects, and felect fomething for every part of the foul and propenlity in human nature, YET I own, I am much inclined to be merry, when I fee a fet of men, who would be extremely difpleafed to be counted other- wife than men of deep fcience. rejoicing in the pofisffion of a fcarce medal, a facrificing G 4 patera, 8g LETTER XXXVI. patera, or lamp of antiquity, conceiving knowledge annexed to fuch purfuits, and honor' in the keeping them ; and yet de- fpifing the devotee who paiTes his breviary over St Benedict's fhrine to colled its effi- c"acious effluvia, or paying homage to the" tooth of an apoftle ; is it more ridiculous to offer devotion to one, than to believe there is fcience in the other ? would not Demo- critus laugh at the man, who made the fu- perb diftin&ion of philofophy and folly be- tween thefe propenfities ; and Heraclitus weep, mat men could purfue fuch objects, with a belief of real knowledge in one, and efficacious influence in the other ? IF both are ridiculous, yet methinks, they are not equally fo : the devotee, purfuing the difpofitions implanted in man, is only weak like man j the other, afTuming the phi- lofopher, and man of refearch, in purfuits ' equally abfurd, is equally weak, and yet ten times more the object of ridicule, becaufe he ftigmatizes that with the appellation of folly in others, which he dignifies with philofo- phy in himfelf, and cannot difcover that he and they differ in nothing but in words, de- votion LETT E R XXXVI. S 9 yotion and virtu, the love of religion and the Jove of antiquity 5 the paflion is the fame, and the objects equally meritorious, only fa- fhion has given one the air of reafon and truth, and religion out of fafhion, the air of folly and falmood, to the other. Alas ! we are men alike thro' all, and the antiquarian of England as credulous, and as little philo- fophic, as the devotee of Rome: the impar- tial eye and fagacious head difcover that fur- faces conceal 5 that novelty, rarity, and fa- fhion, delight and delude ; yet the ocean of intellect is all the fame, and contains the fame materials below : the prifm of the human understanding divides the flood of light into jts original compounding colours j the green, blue, or violet, may in their turns be the reigning colour in vogue j yet the true philo- fopher perceives that an equal truth belongs to each, and that their union conftitutes that which gives life and visibility to all. I am, Tour mojl obedient, and mojl humble fervant. LET- 9 o LETTER XXXVH. LETTER XXXVH. To the Reverend Father BATISTA G u A R i N i, at Rome. Dear SIR, IT has been the obfervation of fome tra- vellers, that the refined policy of the Ve- netians has defignedly created a contempt of their clergy, and a kind of plenary indul- gence in the affairs of gallantry; in confe- quence of which the nuns frequently receive their lovers in their convents, and after hav- ing vov/d an eternal adieu to the delights of this world, pafs their hours in the fweets of carnal love, and mere mortality. I AM not politician enough to decide, whether this, be right according to the max-? ims of their government; nor do I know, that encouragement to vice, and the dimi- niming the power of restraining it by depre- ciating the efteem of the clergy, neceffarily enter into the idea of an ariftocracy. It feems to me however, that the minifters of this kingdom may poffibly conceive it in that light, and their views be calculated to introduce the fame kind of government here- after in this ifland, which reigns in Venice at LETTER XXXVIL 9 , at prefenl; they may lefTen the authority of the crown to that of the Doge, and buying the votes of that rabble of little boroughs in the kingdom, fecure to themfelves hereafter thofe who may unite to plunder and undo, then treat their mafter with contempt, and keep their own power fuperior : an under- ftanding that would doubt this, after their intending to pafs a law againft clandeftine marriage, in the manner it is designed to be enacted, muft have a great inclination to fcepticifm indeed. I T has been already faid, that the Vene- tians, by tolerating the criminal intercourfc of the fexeSi and {hewing no favourable at- tention to the clergy, muft have imagined, that fuch behaviour is neceflary to the fup- porting an ariftocratic government, which is with them very defpotic and tyrannic. YOUTH muft be indulged in venereal de- lights, the propenfity which is moft natural to them, to allure their attentions from the ftudy of politics, and enervate their refolu- tions by that indulgence 5 and the clergy render 'd almoft contemptible, left that power, which divines have over the minds of men, mould 92 LETTER XXXVII. mould create oppofition to the civil autho- rity, and give the fenators difturbance by preaching patriotifm and virtue. IF thefe are the reafons of the Venetian nobility, the minifterial men of this ifland may probably have adopted the fame fenti- ments for the fame intent ,; at leaft there has lately been thoughts of paffing a law in this nation, which may bid fair to have no better tendency. IT is faid that it will be enacted, that no marriage (hall be valid without confent of guardians or parents, where either perfon is lefs than twenty-one years old. THE penal parts to reft only on the cler- gyman, who performs the office ; the male or female, who is above age to incur no pe- nalty ; and the young lady who mall be fe- .duced, to have no reftitution for her loft re- putation and virtue. THE more one considers the nature of this act, the more it appears impoffible that any thing can be more effectually plann'd, to the effectuating the defign of introducing an ari- flocratic or oligarchic power; it contains every LETTER XXXVII. 93 every thing neceffary, combined in one law, for that intent : if the abettors of it will ftili avow that their defign had nothing of that kind conceal'd in it, how will they clear themfelves from the imputation of the moft fhort-fighted politicians, that ever pretended to give laws to a nation ? will they, after fo manifeft a miftake, perfift to prefide in affairs of ftate and public welfare ? WHENEVER an order of men, equally cri- minal with another which has no greater right to immunities by law or privilege, is exempted from the punition, to which the former is fubjected by the legiflature, may it not be faid, that it is either defigned to (hew the contempt which the minifters have entertained for one above the other, or fome private finifter view exempts the latter, for reafons peculiar to themfelves, and not tend- ing to public good ? WHAT pretext can a man make ufe of, to amufe an inquifitive eye, or blind a juft judge, who is about to fubject the clergyman to pe- nal laws for crimes, in every commiffion of which there muft be always fome one more criminal than him whom this law makes only culpable ? THIS 94 LETTER XXXVII. THIS is what is faid to be the defign ; for example, Sir, if a young gentleman of age fhall, when this law is paft, prevail on a young lady, under age, who loves him, to be married contrary to law, and fubdue the virtue of a clergyman in neceffity, by a fum of money immenfe in his eyes, to perform the matrimonial rite, the divine alone is to be confidered as criminal ; what lover cannot conquer the chafte refolutions of a virgin, by vows of eternal truth, and arguments which love will eafily believe, and art eafily fuggeft, that marriage is a facred rite, over which no earthly potentates have the leaft authority -, that therefore it is impious to pretend to it j yet, fuch is to be the lenity of this law, that this feducer of the clergy- man and young lady is not to be punimed. WHO that has known the leafl of human hearts, can imagine, that the fair fex in love will liften to this law, and act in confe- quence of it ? YET, the tranfadlion of a marriage con- trary to this law, it is faid, is to condemn the clergyman a felon to the plantations, and leave, amazing to human belief! the perfon who LETTER XXXVII. 95 who feduced the young lady and the clergy- man, in fall liberty to repeat the fame crimQ ten thoufand times, if he can find opportu- nities. CAN therefore any law be devifed, which can fo effectually bring the clergy into dif- grace, as being fubjedted to partial a 61s of parliament, and erafe that lawful authority which they mould have in all Hates, over the minds of men committed to their care ? can the fenfe of Britons be fo depraved to let it be paft in England ? AT the fame time, can there be any in- citement to libidinous attempts, fo flrong, as thus reducing the young, innocent, and vir-r tuous, to ruin by a law, which the enamour'd heart can never conceive to be right, in con- tradiftincYion to that which has always beea deem'd facred and inviolable till, now, un- lefs fome immoral actions have given caufe for a divorce ? INDEED, if this law mould pafs, there re- mains but one greater incentive to lull and debauchery, which is giving premiums to him who (hall rpin moft virgins -, and this i probably ' 96 LETTER XXXVII. probably will take place in this kingdom, fooner than an encouragement to virtue, arts, or fciences : For inftance, an authentic lift of a certain number of deflower'd virgins of good families, may give to a young noble- man an enfigncy, lieutenancy, or captain's commiffion in the guards, and in like man- ner, commiffions in the common marching regiments, to others of the gentry, accord- ing to their merits. OTHER young men of lefs honourable pa- rentage, fons of corrupted mayors, and per- jured returning officers, may be provided for in the cuftoms, excife, and other places, ac- cording to their deferts in this way ; and laflly, the common people may be remune- rated by giving fo much a maidenhead, to be paid by the church-wardens of parifhes, as they do already for a badger, or a fox's head : this would complete the fcheme. Pray tell me, if the promoters of this law can have vir- tue in view, and the encouragement of pub- lic utility, whence does it rife, that when the perfon of age mall have contracted this mar- riage, and offended this law, he is not to be punifh'd with death as "in France ? c THIS LETTER XXXVII. 97 THIS precaution it is forefeen, may pre- vent this artifice of ruining virgins by a falfe marriage, the perfon who would then be ftrengthen'd in his powers of feduction, will be limited by the fear of punimment, and confequently the young men reftrain'd from gallantry, and debauch, both of which mufl ever be indulged in a nation, that is to be undone : and then, as few of thefe offences in marriage, may be committed under fo ob- ftinate a check, the clergy cannot be load- ed with infamy : Thus two great reafons of enacting this law may be deftroy'd by enact- ing this claufe. IF feducing young girls to their ruin, and their proving pregnant from this interview, is to be obligatory on the man to marry them, as it is in Holland ; then will not the virtu- ous young gentlemen of this iiland receive a moft unmerciful oppofition to their humane difpofitions of ruining maids, and the defign of the law be entirely fruftrated ? DOES it not evidently appear then, that this law, if it is paft, will tend to lefTen the mo- ral influence and power of the clergy, and VOL, II. H open 98 LETTER XXXVII. open new roads to gallantry, and debauching virgins ? Is not this following the Venetians in their favourite maxims of ariftocratic go- vernment ? THIS however is not the whole, which feems intended by this law j minors being withheld from difpoling of themfelves, till of age, are actually in the hands of their parents or guardians till that hour ; during which time, by coaxing, by threats, by pro- mifes, by fale, and ten thoufand other me- thods, they may eafily engage them to wed the perfons they pleafe to chufe for them ; avarice or pride, the ruling paffions of old age in this land, will oblige parents to wed their children to every vice, difeafe and de- formity, to every thing difagreeable in foul and body, to obtain more riches, or procure titles. THUS then, in future times, the great fa- milies uniting with the rich, will not the bo- rough towns, which are already thoroughly corrupted, chufe the wealthieft candidates, or thofe who can give moil money for them? by this means will the reprefentatives in p be LETTER XXXVII. 99 be any longer thofe of the people ? will not the nobility and commoners, who are fuffi- ciently wealthy to place whom they pleafe in that great charge, rule their behaviour, with the eafe of a machine wound up to go as they chufe, and fet to flrike the hours right or wrong, at their direction? Hence may it not hereafter follow, that the power of money, in the pofleffion of a few, fhall influence all, and oppofe that of the crown, by purchafing a p 1 which may alike infringe the regal authority, and peoples liberties, in preference of their own power ? A cry of hounds fo nicely taught, that they will quit the prey in full chace, if the minifterial huntfman throws the pole before them ; or hunt dov/n a lamb with as much rage as a fox, if halloo'd by him to the purfuit. THIS nothing can fo foon effectuate as this law, which, if it pafs, muft inevitably pro- duce a union of riches and honors, and at no very dift'ant period prove the deftruction of the crown's legal authority, and the peoples juft liberties, and generate an ariftocracy or oligarchy to be the directing power of this nation. II 2 THEN loo LETTER XXXVIL THEN tell me, do not you plainly perceive, this feems to be done with intent, fooner or later, to render the clergy of the eftablifhed church open to contempt and infamy, ' from which the diflenting teachers are exempted by this very act, thefe having no power of performing the nuptial rite ? As the Englifh clergy, excepting a few abandoned men, have ever been the friends of the true government, in fupporting the king's rights, and peoples privileges, it be- comes abfolutely neceflary to render thefe men contemptible in the eyes of all, before their doctrines can be totally difregarded j which this law in time will moil effectually produce* Thus the clergy may be rendered defpifed and infamous, the virgins of moft beauty and beft difpofnions deftined to the arms of violators, and feducers ; the legifla- tive power given into the hands of riches, the regal authority, the peoples liberties and virtues annihilated, by one law againft clan- deftine marriage. I s it not evident then, that the Prefbyterian plan of government which was in vain at- tempted LETTER XXXVII. 101 tempted by that infamous race of men, in, the reign of Charles the firft, by arts, arms, and aflaffination, is at prefent very near be- ing effected in the reign of George the fecond, and the king and people lofing thofe prero- gatives and liberties which have coft them fo much blood and treafure, fo often and fo well defended by the arms and eloquence of their anceftors, by the artifice of minifterial men, difguifed in the fhape of a law ? IN this way will the Englim conftitution one day expire, as it appears to my eyes, who behold objects with lefs partiality, than thofe natives who either oppofc or defend the minifterial power. I am, fours, &c. H 3 LET- LETTER XXXVIII. LETTER XXXVIII. To the Reverend Father BATISTA G u i A N I, at Rome. Dear S i R, IS it not true, that individuals may be very defective in one fenfe, and very perfect in another ? the eye may fcarce have accura- cy enough to diftinguiih colours at a little dif- tance, and yet the ear may be fo perfect as to difcover the fucceeding notes in the dy- ing vibration of one firing, or expiring found of one bell j whilft another perfon mall dif- cover the leafl deviation from true drawing, or varying made of the fame colour, and not diftinguim one 'air or tune from another: the fame is equally true in the other fenfes of fmelling, touching, and hearing. THIS obfervation has led me to imagine, that the fame degrees of excellence which are to be found in the fenfes of individuals, may chara<5terife a whole nation in this re- fpecl:. IN LETTER XXXVJII. 103 IN paffing thro' Paris to this city, I could not avoid being greatly aftonimed at the plea- fure with which the audience feemed to be delighted, with the fingers on their ftage ; for that reafon which above all others is the moil difgufting in mudc, the being eternally out of tune. NOT a finger in the opera ever performs an air without that error, and yet, the whole audience does not appear the lead fenfible of it : an Italian porter would have raved at fuch founds, and left the theatre inftantly, half mad, unlefs the finger had quitted the ftage. THI s naturally made me fuggeft, that this nation in general is defective in hearing : the organs of that fenfe, in a French native, are not made with fufficient delicacy, to diilin- guifh between being in tune, and not in tune; whereas, thofe of an Italian peafant are ex- tremely accurate in this fenfe. NOTWITHSTANDING this, the deficiency which is fo notorious in this part of the or- ganization of a Frenchman, is amply atoned H 4 for, io 4 LETTER XXXVIII. for, by the great perfection of the fenfe of feeing. IN all attitudes of the human figure, whe- ther in dancing, walking, or any other kind of polite action, nothing is more juft, grace- ful, and becoming, than what is to be found in France, not only in the fuperior ranks, but even the lower have a great degree of that becoming action. THE eyes of this people are fo extremely fubtle and diftinguiming, that the fmallefl improper action in a player, the leait dif- torted or ungraceful motion in a dancer's limbs is immediately perceived j the eye of that perfon, whofe ear cannot diflinguim be- tween an inftrument in tune and not, dif- cerns the leaft ungraceful movement of the body, and receives much pain from it. HENCE it follows, that the muficians of Paris are very often deficient in tuning their inftruments, and their dancers the moft grace- ful and juft in all the attitudes of bodily motion. THIS LETTER XXXVIII. TH i s fuperior accuracy of fenfe in the eye does not terminate in the dancer, it goes on in the painter and ftatuary, in the drawings, decorations and ornaments of all kinds of toys and furniture -, and I believe, it is no violation of truth to fay, that the French aca- demy of painting and fculpture furnimes the beft matters of thefe kinds in Europe at pre- fent : this you muft confefs is no fmall con- ceffion from the lips of an Italian, where thefe arts have flourished and reigned in all the zenith of perfection. THE Englim, with whom I have long re- ilded, referable our natives in the delicacy of hearing, more than either the Italians or French in that of eye-fight. THEIR very ballad-fingers in the ftreetsare in tune, and are really, for that reafon alone, without confidering the tafte of their com- mon airs, a more agreeable entertainment, than all the voices of the French opera. THE ear of a Briton has a great degree of perfection, fenfibility, and tafte of the powers of mufic j it diftinguiflies inftantly between the pleafures which are communicated by inftru- jo6 LETTER XXXVIII. inftruments in tune, and thofe which are not ; and tho' many of the hearers know not the reafon, yet, their difpleafnre is vifible in their faces, whenever the latter happens in a piece of mufic, which has before given them delight. HOWEVER excellent this fenfe of hearing maybe in the natives of this ifland, even in the defcendants of the original inhabitants, as I remarked in my journey into Wales j it is manifeft that the accuracy of the vifual dif- cernment is not to be compared with that of the French j neither men or women pre- fent themfelves with that grace, which is fpread over all the behaviour of both fexes in Paris ; they neither dance or move with fuch eafe and dignity ; one degenerates into flippant, and the other fwells into burlefque; for this reafon this ifland has not bred fine dancers, either among men or women. THAT excellence depends on the perfec- tion of the eye-fight, and is totally directed by that fenfe -, it may be conceived that as the motions are accommodated to mu- fic, the dancer ought to be a judge of that alfo, LETTER XXXVIII. 107 alfo, and have a nice ear 5 this indeed, is true, but then it depends on the knowing the time of the competition, and not dif- cerning the inflrument's being in tune; a niulician may be a moft excellent timifl, and the hearer a good judge of that part, tho' the firft plays the whole air out of tune, and the dancer knows nothing of the difference. To this defect of vifual powers may it not be afcribed, that England has not yet produced a good painter ? no one amongft them having been remarkable (I mean a na- tive) for either drawing or colouring well. EVEN the fole man of great invention a- mongft the painters, has been fomewhat de- ficient in drawing and colouring : tho' his fanfy has been frequently luxuriant and juft, yet the other parts, which depend on the perfection of the fenfe of feeing, have been unequal to that of the imagination. THESE original defects in nature may pro- bably prevent the Englim from ever having excellent painters amongft the natives, and the French from producing exquilite mufkians. To io8 LETTER XXXVIII. T o what other caufe can it be afcribed, that tho' the fame mental powers have fhewn themfelves in their writings of fanfy, which are neceffary to make excellent painters and muficians, that thofe artifts are yet unpro- duced amongft the natives of this,ifle and that kingdom ? I am, Tour mofl obedient feruanf. LET- LETTER XXXIX. 109 LETTER XXXIX. 70 the Reverend Father BATISTA GUARINI, at Rome. Dear S i R, IT is not in thefe maxims alone which I laft fent you, that the minifterial part of this kingdom imitates the Venetian policy ; befides the toleration, not to fay the encou- ragement given to gallantry, and contemning the clergy, there is yet one other fcandal be- longing to that ftate, which is publicly en- couraged in this. THIS is the countenancing that poifonous and pernicious race of informers, a fet of menjuftly detefted by all preceding nations; beings which are engendered from the rot- tenefs of a peoples morals, and aminifter's ne- farious fchemes, like monfters in the mud of Nilus, or fnakes in dung or putrefaction. INDEED, every one is too fenfible that fuch hyaena- beings have ever exifted, and been employed in all kingdoms, particularly to- wards their decline - t but that they fhould be publicly . no LETT E R XXXIX. publicly known, and then openly and ho- nourably remunerated, is an inftance unex- emplified in any virtuous nation ancient or modern. INDEED, in London there are no heads of wood as at Venice, into which informations may be conveyed, excepting thofe of the ad- miniftration, and thefe are of that wood out of which a ftatuary would be egregioufly puzzled to make a Mercury. THERE are fome inftances, when infor- mation becomes a virtue j the flave that overheard the defigns of the fons of the el- der Brutus, to fubvert the government and reftore the Tarquins to Rome 5 the difco- verers of the Catalinian confpiracy ; each de- ferved public thanks, and honourable remu- neration : the importance of the difcovery erafed the blacknefs of the heart, which ge- nerally attends fuch degenerate beings ; a vir- tuous man even might have done this. BUT in trivial affairs, fuch as the inadver- tent and unbecoming expreffions of three in- toxicated boys, where no danger could at- tend LETTER XXXIX. m tend the indifcretion, in a place where they had not the leaft intereft, which the inform- er muft perfectly know, is it not amazing he mould find honourable encouragement for fuch bafenefs ? ADDED to this, the very fituation he was in, the meannefs of his birth, the diftrtfs of his circumftances, his known character and the public contempt for it, mould have lef- fened the weight of his information, tho 5 it had excufed in fome meafure his daring to doit. YET, fuch is the reception he has met with at the M 's hands, that it is po- fitively afferted, he is to receive fome con- fiderable dignity in the church for his infor- mation j fo honourable is the name and oc- cupation of an informer become in this ifland, that henceforth it probably will advance the 'bafeft born to the rank of poffeffing what is worthy of the acceptation of nobility ; it is even rumoured, that a noble earl's fon, and this moft pernicious of all beings to fo- ciety, are to receive the fame honors on the fame day. THIS ii* LETTER XXXIX. THIS I cannot believe to be true: will any minifter be fo weak and unmannerly, to throw fo flagrant a contempt on the no- ble perfon who is deftined to this honor, to place on the fame rank with him a profti- tuted informer ? Can it be conceived that any defcendant of a noble family can bear fuch an infult on that refpect he was born to, and is due to him ; or, that thofe who have already received that dignity will fit on the fame feat with infamy, and fuffer it to tarnifh the honors of their office, by the pef- tilential effluvia which efcape from it. Is it to be imagined, that a M r will difgrace the character of a divine, and efface the influence which a teacher and inftructor of morality and religion ought to have over the minds of men, by thus dignifying eccle- fiaftically the moft infamous of all charac- ters ? will he bring a difgrace on the religion of Chrift, by exalting the Ifcariot of his a- poftles, and annihilate the effects of its doc- trines, by rewarding the actions of thofe men which it detefts. IF this mould be done, henceforth will the Britons pretend, that the church in Eng- land LETTER XXXIX. 113 land is no refuge for thofe who deferve ig- nominious punifhmenr, and condemning the Italians, affert that it offers no fandtuary for viMains. YET, believe me, fir, there are thofe who are pofitive in afferting that this creature will be publicly honoured, and affign this reafon for it : NOTHING, fay they, is fo much to be dreaded by the adminiftration, as a total ex- tirpation of Jacobitifm -, if there remain no fymptoms of attachment to the Stuart fa- mily, in England, what will the Whigs have to offer to their matter, when he would pur- fue what feems right to him, and fatal to themfelves ? or, how amufe the people, when they are inclined to tranfa to bring about a good work of the like kind in England, J am determined my voice (hall not be want- ing to fo laudable an undertaking. SIR Robert fmiled, and there ended the convention. I am, Tour mojl obedient. LET- 126 LETTER XLL LETTER XLI. To the Reverend Father LORENZO FRANCIOSINI, at Rome. Dear S i R, MAY it not be faid, that the ruling fpi- rit of a nation is more or lefs vitible, in the actions of all forts of that people which dwell in it, from the common labourer and artizan, to the firfr. nobleman in the nation ? amidft the lower clafs it is to be found as confpicuous as amongft the higheft, and the rags and fat living of the workmen of Eng- land, fpeak the idea of liberty, as much as the difregard and inattention which is to be found amongft the inhabitants of quality and riches. THE ruling whimfy of the lowed people of England, is to be what they call free, and to be carelefs of offending any man. To lofe, in drunkennefs, all diftin&ion be- tween birth and obfcurity, nobility and bafe- nefs, underftanding and ignorance, to affront fuperiors, and defy the laws, make what are called the efTential requifites of liberty by thefe good people of England. To LETTER XLI. 127 To fupport this glowing fpirit as it ought, and keep the heart warmed with its own magnanimity, nothing is fo truly effectual as a large quantity of inebriating liquor ; in confequence of this, all decoration is neglecl:- ed, and in this light the tattered coat is to be considered only as an old enfign, which has been much torn, and fufFered in the de- fence of liberty. THE daily labour in England is licentioufly fwallowed down the workmens throats; li- berty is the word ; and the artiiYs hands are only employed to find him liquor and info- lence. This is the ruling paffion of an En- glim common man, fpirituous liquors increase his ideal freedom, and natter his fenfation of greatnefs, till he becomes as great as a lord ; <{ liberty plucks juftice by the nofe. The " baby beats the nurfe, and quite athwart " goes all decorum." OWING to this it is, perhaps, that the In- dians of America are all great lovers of fpiri- tuous liquor ; it exalts their favourite notions of their own prowefs, and every warrior be- comes a Hercules by the influence of that in- flaming fluid. To 128 LETTER XLT. To mew you what extravagant and unjaft ideas the people of England have annexed to the word Liberty, give me leave to tell you what I faw in the pit of the play-houfe. IT happened that the king, apd fome o- thers of the royal family, were at the comedy that evening; when, according to cuftom, the company took off their hats ; one how- ever, near me, amongft others, kept his on his head j when taking the liberty to fpeak to him, and afking if he paid no refpect to the appearance of his fovereign ? he, know- ing by my voice that I was a ftranger, re- plied, " That, thank God, they were a free " people, and he would not take off his hat " to any king alive." DON'T imagine this man was attached to the Stuart intereft, it proceeded only from pure caprice or ill manners, which in ten thoufand different fhapes is dignified in this land with the celeftial name of LIBERTY. During an election of members for Weftmin- fler, the popular exclamation was, Liberty ! Liberty ! and no French ftrollers ! as if a troup of comedians of that nation could de- flroy the liberties of England. LETTER XLI. 129 IN Naples the contrary of this difpofltion prevails ; there you (hall fee a fmith or com- mon artifan ftand at his door with a pair of crimfon-velvet breeches decorated with gold lace, and a laced waiftcoat; liberty is a found not known in that country ; therefore the moft favourite idea is to look like a gentle- man, which notion flatters him into the ex-* pence of a laced fuit and velvet, and that again into his being a gentleman. POMP is fo much the fedncing notion of the Neapolitan, that if he cannot hire a boy to walk after his wife to church, he will put on his fword and follow her himfelf to give her an air of grandeur* An Englishman would rob on the highway, or fell himfelf a flave, with as much good will, as follow his wife to church in that manner* As to matters of the belly, the Neapoli- tan is eafily contented $ give .him only his water-melon with ice, and he will fare as you pleafe in other refpects of diet. THE peafants wives of that country go to market in a cloth-of-gold jacket, and a fear- let petticoat double laced with gold ) the afs VOL. II. K which i 3 o LETTER XLI. which brings her and her wares is alfo char- ged with the precious load of her inftrument of mufic ; with this {he amufes herfelf du- ring her time of flaying at market. THUS you fee freedom creates the love of ftrong liquors, and arbitrary power fobriety ; one loves to warm himfelf into infolence and contempt of authority, two things which he calls liberty, becaufe he may do it uncon- trouled ; and the other is afraid of being in- toxicated, left his lips fhould utter fome dif- refpeclful or indecent exprefllon, and he fhould fuffer for it. IT may, I think, be fairly collected from the ancients, that the old Italians were no enemies to wine, but indulged their glafs whilft freedom lafted amongft them ; which cuftom they would have preferred to this hour, if the fear of being betrayed by in- temperance to inadvertent expreffions had not begotten the preient reigning mode of fnow-water and fine cloaths. THE Sabine and Falernian wine, the de- lights of Horace and Maecenas, had never been negleded and unknown had Rome con- tinued LETTER XLI. 131 tinued free; which is another reafon for burning his Holinefs in this ifland, and to an Englifh idea of liberty a calamity not eafily to be pafled over with all their philofophy. FROM what I have faid you may imagine, that this difpofition to wine creates no unfre- quent infolence in the ftreets of London ; and yet, ftrange to tell in this kingdom, this intemperance has an effect not fo mifchiev- ous as one would expect, if we confider it in a political light. Adieu, I am your moft obedient fervant. K * LET" i 3 2 LETTER XLII. LETTER XLII. To the Reverend Father F i L i p p o BON INI, at Rome. Dear SIR, IT is a common obfervation, that too much zeal to ferve, frequently degene- rates into meannefs, and difpleafes a generous heart more than a becoming attention paid to yourfelf and to him you wouljd oblige ; the excefs of complaifance deftroys the whole effect of it, and very often entirely difap- points the expectations of him that pays it : it is dangerous to give too much of any thing, left by the frequency of it the minds of the receivers become accuftomed to that manner of treatment, and flight the giver, who rather feems to be profufe in his dona- tions than generous in his fpirit - y yet would they entirely defert him if he mould be re- mifs in the ufual cuftoms, which he has fo long continued. Sach is the nature of man in general. IT is not in behaviour of common life alone that this excefs of giving may deftroy the LETTER XLII. i* j j the effect of it. The full enjoyment of every object, the moft defired by the inha- bitants of this world from the cradle to the grave, makes the poffeffor rather unhappy, by having never tafted the difference which attends the want of them, than blefTed with their poffeffion. This very frequently creates inattention in nations, as well as in private men;- and often dupes the minifter to the artifices of other kingdoms, as it does the in- dividual to the fchemes of thofe about him, NOTHING is fo common in this kingdom, as to fee a young gentleman born to wealth and every thing neceffary for happinefs, who has fcarce tafted difapporntment in his plea^ fures during youth, to become tired and in- attentive, and without ever being profufe or even generous, his eftate moulders into ruin by the corroding power of thofe fycophants who furround him ; and this entirely owing to inattention and neglect of -examining his affairs. SOMETHING like this feems to be the dif- pofition of the Englifli miniftry ; they have fuffered the kingdom to crumble into duft ; K 3 and, LETTER XLIL and, mortgaging one revenue after another thro' carelefsnefs of remedying it in times of peace, it at prefcnt can fcarce produce income fufficient for the necefTary fupplies and occurrences for the year, and is become difabled from oppofing its enemies in time of war. THE country gentleman, who in this fitu- ation is neighbour to another who is not, is fure to have his lands invaded by the latter ; he kills the game which the other breeds, and preferves his own. The negligence of one increafes the infolence of the other: they each know one another's circumftances, and fuffering on one fide is the natural confe- cjuence of the needy and negligent, as pre- fumption is of hinr who is at eafe and in in full riches. METHINKS the Englifh are in the fitua- tion of the inattentive and needy man, and the French in that of the active and wealthy ; and the fame effects follow, in confequence of this behaviour, in the two nations, which $re confequent in thofc of the individuals, OWING LETTER XLII. 135 OWING to this it feems to be, that in the Eaftern and Weftern colonies the French attack the fubjedts of this country, and treat them with a flight which could never have proceeded but from a thorough knowledge of the fhuation of the fupplies of this na- tion, and an abfolute contempt for the rai- nifter which directs them. They know per- fectly that at prefent this people can but badly fuftain the expence of a war, and that the minifter underftands little how to direct a kingdom in that circumflance : they are convinced by experience of his pufillanimity, and judging of the powers of a nation not by the money which it can raife alone, but by the wifdem of thofe who muft direct its fleets and armies, proceed in confequencc of that knowledge, and conftantly attain fome advantage in peace by attempting fomething like war. THE French are convinced that this mi- nifter will and muft bear much before an Open rupture can be declared by him ; and, making the proper ufe of human knowledge, creep infenfibly on the pofleflions which the Englifh fubjedts have fettled in America. K 4 'Tis 136 LETTER XEII. "Tis probable they will not ceafe till come to the fea more, their purfuit is one fettled and uniform plan which is more or lefs followed in war and peace. The Englim after a treaty fet their hearts at eafe, and their neighbours are for ever active. IT has been commonly faid by the Eng- lim during the laft War, that tho' the French conquered on the continent, they reaped no advantage by it. THIS feems, in my opinion, to be a very palpable miflake : is not IcfTening the pow- ers of England, by running it thirty millions more in debt, a very confiderable advantage? a greater one than if it had bankrupted the nation ; this load fettles upon their backs, which, as a kingdom, is as much as it can well bear. And tho' the rich individuals don't appear to feel in their private fortunes the ill effects of this debt which has loaded them fo infenfibly, yet thofe who fee things with moft perfpicuity and impartiality, know the perilous ftate this ifland is in. HAD the war been continued till the funds had been all deilroyed, individuals would then LETTER XLII. 137 then have complained more gfievoufly than they do at prefent; the lofs of fome millions revenue would have been feverely felt by the inhabitants whofe effects lay in thofe funds;- but the whole nation, having thrown off that load, Would have recovered its ftrength, like a lion fick at the time of changing his coat, and come abroad more terrible when it was over, or a ferpent in the defert of Lybia, more vigorous after the fhedding its old fkin. THIS nation, difencumber'd of its debts, would be a much more potent enemy than it can be at prefent to the French nation ; the natural revenues which it produces in peace, would then afford millions to oppofe them, and what at prefent pays the intereft df their debts, would fupply fleets, armies, and money to fuflain their colonies, and the people then be no more taxed in war than now in times of tranquillity. METHINKS then> the Gallic nation has obtained no inconfiderable advantage by the Jaft war, even fomething more than if their conquefts had been greater ; it has reduced England almoft to a dilemma that has bound her 138 LETTER XLIL her hands. The minifter dares not go to war, becaufe of the difficulty of finding fup- plies, and there appears no great inclination to pay the national debts. THE Dutch, with all the barrier towns in Flanders difmantled, will fcarce fhew more readinefs at prefent, than in the laft war, to become heartily the Britifh allies, when no- thing prevents their cities from being at- tacked, on the firfl declaration of war, and an irreconcileable anger between the king of Prufiia and the emprefs of Germany, on ac- count of Silefia, is another no inconfiderable advantage to France. IT feems to me, therefore, that the French were never in fo promifing a way to be a very great nation, as at prefent 5 nor England never fo likely to be lefs : the firft encourage arts, fciences and commerce, and having reduced the Englim to the ftate they wim, as well as tke Dutch, having banifhed from their own imaginations that vifion of univerfal empire, they now feem to be in the purfuit of that which mufl terminate in the ag- LETTER XLIL 139 aggrandizing their kingdom, beyond that /hare which it ought to have in Europe. WH i L s T in England, there is a dronifh, lethargic difeafe, that has crept upon the fouls of men in power, as if they had all drank opium, or that the natural confequencc of working much in the raifing money, had produced a paralytic flate in their faculties, as it does on the limbs of thofe who are en- gaged in digging it in the mines. CERTAIN it is, that no nation has at pre- fent lefs reafon to be content with itfelf, than England j deficient in the knowledge of hu- man nature, and confequently in the art of governing, refting all its powers and efforts on the influence of money, till it has almoft exhaufted that refource ; not confidering that gold is inanimate matter, and that tho* when put in motion it has great effect, yet the fpi- rit which directs it, alone imparts the advan- tage which ought be expected from it. IT may bribe the people of this nation to be at eafe, with refpect to what (hall befall fhem j it may purchafe individuals of an- 2 othej i 4 o LETTER XLII. other to coincide in Englifh fchemes ; but this is a temporary expedient which only prolongs ruin, comes a Machault in France, whofe hands are yet undenled with plun- dering his country, and his heart unftained with venal or felfifh ideas, when the influence of Englifh gold is as ineffectual as rain to dhTolve adamant. THE probity and perfpicuity of that man is a greater caufe of fear to this nation, than all the French fleets and armies ; what cannot be effected by the union of thofe powers joined with refolution, and what is not to be apprehended from the ihort- fightednefs of a nation, which leaves itfelf undefended againft its only natural enemy, its colonies unprotected from the fame peo- ple, its commerce unencouraged, arts and fciences unprotected, and one univerfal a- narchy through neglect of police and reli- gion, with corruption and perjury reigning over all the hearts of the lower clafs of people ? fuch is the prefent flate of this once Uluftrious ifle. LETTER XLII. 141 IT gives me pain when I behold this, and aftonimment at the inattention which the natives pay to their perilous fituation ; I own I love them for their ancient virtues, and wifh fome favourable hour may reinftate them in their former luftre, alas] I fear. I am, Tour moft obedient. L E T- LETTER XLIIL LETTER XLI1I. To the Reverend Father FRANCESCO BERTINI, at Rome. Dear SIR, THIS kingdom feems to me to be a living leflbn of what we read in the hiftories of ancient Rome ; we fee here what we find written in our hiflorians ; and as the confutations referable one another in fome refpedts, the analogy is more finking, than it can be in countries whofe form of govern- ment differs more from the republican, than this does from the Roman. I have fre- quently imagined, that in governments which differ in their eftablifhments, there fhould not only be laws peculiar to each, relating to property j but fome even which fhould re- ftrain the accumulation of wealth beyond a certain degree : will the republican and mixt bear exceffive riches, tho' perhaps they may be indulged to any excefs in a monarchic or abfolute ftate ? WHAT I would be underflood to fay, is this, that a defpotic ftate can bear to pofTefs more riches without hurting, its welfare, than LETTER XLIII. 143 a republic or mixt government ; it appears to me, this has the glimmering of truth, pray tell me what you think, when you have heard my opinion. LET us then fuppofe, and as it really is ori- ginally conftituted in this kingdom, that the king has his powers limited in fome inftances, and the people in others j that the executive is lodged in the hands of the firft, and the legi- flative in the hands of the latter, and that the people have a right of choofing great part of this legiflative body, for their reprefentatives in the affembly of their nation. THIS latter makes the republican part of the Englifh constitution, all which mould be chofcn by their compatriots, from that natu- ral afcendency which good fenfe and virtue have over the minds of men ; thefe are, in a nation where nature has not been totally defaced, the qualities which create that ori- ginal authority which one man has over the minds and difpolitions of many j this fupe- riority they would have continued to exert, had not the introduction of too much wealth into private hands, deftroyed their effect - y it has i 4 4 LETTER XLI0, has placed the private good of every indivi- dual in oppolition to that of the general, and the thief with money has more authority than Eparninondas, was he an Englifhman, would have without it. THIS acquired power of riches, has to- tally fupplanted all the influence of human excellencies over 'the minds of men ; and Cataline with gold would be preferred to Fabricius without it, in nine of every ten boroughs in the iiland. MONEY- then having this influence on the human heart, counter-acts that weight which fuperior underftanding, fuperior virtue, and fuperior abilities of all kinds, ought, accord- ing to the true fabric of nature, to poflefs in the nation where they are found. THESE original powers of man were fir ft implanted in a few, by the author -of all, for the good of all who were of the fame tri^e or nation. THE valour and prudence of one man, by that prevalency which thefe qualifications have on the opinion of his fellow countrymen, 2 become LETTER XLIII. become the good of the whole, and creates him their general in times of war and danger $ this brought Cincinnatus from the plough* THE fame may be faid of wifdbm in the minifter, piety in the prieft, and probity in the legiflators of a country; the fame pow- ers which give men authority over others by enjoying thefe excellencies, make it the pub- lic utility that they mould be in power j the caufe of choofing operates to the advantage of thofe who cleft, and all the community re- ceives one mutual benefit, from this fupe- riority of a few members, and the propenfity to yield fubmiffion to them in the multitude* THUS in naturej the powers amongfl meti which gain the afcendant, -are thofe which ought to obtain it 5 authority and fubmiffiori become one reciprocal advantage: hence without doubt have rifen all the different governments in the world, and in this way it is ftill continued amongft the nations of America ; wifdom and valour impart powef and authority to the pofTeiTors j the fubordi- nation which preferves the whole, isjuflly preferved by it. . IL L 146 LETTER XLIII. WHATEVER then in a nation tends to de- ftroy the influence of thefe original qualifica- tions, fo far tends to fabvert the government ; for nature has never yet fuffered a right effect to be produced by a wrong caufe, and con- fequently every artificial fupply muft fooner or later fail, and prove deftructive. IN this kingdom, where I am, this acqui- red and falfe authority of wealth has totally prevailed over the natural and true ; all fub- ordination is vanilhed virtue, underftanding, and every other quality which influence in original nature, have loft all prevalency. FROM this it follows, that the deepeft briber being elected in the place of the deep- eft thinker or worthieft man, the good of the electors and elected are become feparate things, and the man who has given them ten thoufand pounds for their votes, has ten thoufand vices and inclinations to fatisfy by means of them. THE principle of venal influence in this manner, running from the lovveft to the higheft, is it not to be feared, th.it hereafter 5 *11 LETTER XLIII. 14,7 all men may be chofen into offices of ftate, for the fake of their power of giving money, or ferving him that is then at the head of the treasury ? and the whole authority which hu- man perfections ought to poifefs, no longer influence in the favour of any one ? GENERALS, admirals, fecretaries, and all the long lift of minifterial men, may obtain their offices by means of fome linifter influ- ence, and not the natural j even down to the mayor or portrieve of a paultry corporation. IN this manner it may happen, that tho* riches increafe the means of making a fiate, like this, great in one refpecl:, they may de- ilroy it in another > and the depriving men of fuperior abilities, of that authority which they ought to pofTefs, hurts a nation a thou- fand times more effectually, than the advan- tages which attend wealth can do it fervice. FOR this reafon it feems necefTary, that to preferve a nation happy and free which is conflituted like this, to have minifters which would be revered abroad, and loved at home j it fliould have la\#s enacted to prohibit the L 2 increafe x-48 LETTER XLIII. increafe of wealth in the individuals, beyond a certain fum, the excefs of which {hould be depofited in the public treafury. THIS, indeed at prefent, would appear very viiionary and ideal, in the opinion of the prefent ftatefmen ; yet, Lycurgus carried the reftraint of money to a much greater height than is now neceffary, and preferved the conflitution of Sparta whilft that reftraint continued ; and tho* an Englishman would not choofe to lye upon hurdles, and eat black broth, yet he might reafonably endea- vour to give thofe excellencies in nature that weight which was originally defigned them, and preferve that country which he ought to love, becaufe it is his own. THIS I flatter myfelf will explain the rea- fon, why virtue has been obferved to be the protecting power of republics, and the ruin of them followed the defertion of that ce- leftiatinfluence, by the introduction of riches. Does it not appear abfolutely certain, that this Snifter influence of wealth, creating one univerfal depravation in the minds of thofe who elect the reprefentatives, who fliould 2 govern LETTER XLIII. 149 govern in a nation, has deprived every ruined republic of the ufe of thofe virtues and per- fections of humanity, which would have preferved it. IT is not becaufe there are not at prefent men of abilities, probity, and underflanding, in England, that the miniftry is fuppofed to be compofed of a different kind of men ; but from this reafon, as thofe fuperior qualities are rarely joined with wealth or ambition, thefe flide into corners, or are not able to win authority thro' want of that baflard power of riches, which has ufurped the throne of the legal heirs of it, the exalted attributes of mental nature. METHINKS it was this pernicious power of riches, which ruirfed the Carthaginian, ftate; in commercial nations, a rich and felfifh merchant overbears the man of fmall property, vaft integrity, and found intellects ; the nation's welfare in his interefted eyes, is the fuccefs of his own private bufinefs ; hog- fheads of tobacco, barrels of rice, tuns of fugar, and bales of cotton, make, in the opi- nion of the feparate traders in thefe com mo- L 3 dities, 150 LETTER XLIII. dities, the nation's whole concern ; circum- fcribed in knowledge,- and hood -winked by lucre, they would prefs all mankind to their private advantage, and fpread yet farther the thirft of money, and the fatal effects which attend it. TELL rne whether thefe men are right in their practice, or I in the judgment of what J have fent you* I am your mojl obedient ferv ant. LET- LETTER XLIV. LETTER XLIV. To the Reverend Father FRANCESCO BERT IN i, at Rome. Dear S i R, I AM much pleafed with your approving of what I have laid on the influence of money, in republican and mix'd govern- ments ; and not a little flatter'd with your requeft of feeing my reafons for what I have afTerted in relation to monarchic flates he- ing able to bear a greater degree of riches, than thofe which I have already mention'd. IN ftates where any part of the legiflative or governing power is elective, the people, after they are once become venal, can pay no regard but to money j this purchafes their felf-love, in oppofition to the love of their country : the heart of man in money loving kingdoms, is not proof againft the feduclion of felf-intereft ; and it inevitably happens that the public benefit, grown old and in- L 4 firm, I 5 2 LETTER XLIV. firm, is ftrangled by the hands of private ad- vantage in full vigour. Too many people of great riches, in a free nation, create an equality which is de- trimental to the whole j nobility is but little worth, where a man of the meanefl birth, and bafefl education, can make part of the legiflative power: in this kingdom a taylor with three hundred a year, may be a mem- ber of parliament and cut out laws as he did garments ; and if he has ten thoufand a year, he may make his quietus with a borough ; tho' not with a bare bodkin, as Hamlet fays, yet with a large fum of money, and be pre- fer'd to the defcendant of a Howard. HENCE you may fee, that money, banifh- ing all other excellencies, becomes the fole envied object ; it gives power and fuperiority, and happily fupplies to the ignorant what they want in worth and underflanding. A nobleman, tho' he makes part of the legifla- ture, is more on a level with a commoner in this kingdom, than in any other upon earth. FOR LETT E R XLIV. 153 FOR this reafon it happens that the inha- bitants, poftponing every other confederation, lay their whole ftrefs on getting rich, and neglect making themfelves wife a as a matter lefs demanding attention. Is it then abfurd to reftrain this rage of money, and fubduing every human qualifi- cation of fuperior excellence to that perni- cious power, efpecially in this comtitution, where the increafing defire of it has already been almoft the ruin of the kingdom ? IN a monarchic ftate, all honors proceed- ing from the crown, the power of riches is much inferior to what it is in a mixt or re- publican ; tho* money is not without in- fluence, in fuch nations it has much lefs than in others, and tho' it may poffibly purchafe the ruling power of a minifler, it cannot long prefer ve and protect him in that place^ without acquitting himfelf with addrefs. WHEREAS a minifter of England, once elected by faction, or intereft, may be fuf- tained by his venal friends, in oppofition to the king and the peoples rights and inclina- tions ; 154 LETTER XLIV. tions ; he that can rule the parliament, rules both, and is at eafe. A MONARCH always places honors above wealth j there is in that flate fome fubordi- nation. A nobleman of France is what no citizen can be, and fbmething which every citizen muil refpect, and pay regard to ; no riches can make the latter a companion for the firft, but by condefcenfion : Whereas in England a peer of the realm, 'and an importer of wine, if the latter be rich, are fo near upon a level in company and privilege, if the mer- chant be in parliament, that betides their ti- tles there is fcarce any difference worth fix- pence. THE church and army are inferior to com- merce in the prefent mode of thinking j thus fubordination is due only to money, and two men of any profeffion are equally efteemed, who are equally rich, from him whofe art is of fervice to his country, and has fpent his life in fludy, to him who behind the counter fells hobnails by the hundred. IN a monarchic {late, the men of fuperior qualifications will at laft fucceed, becaufe it is LETTER XLIV. 155 is the monarch's intereft to have them near his perfon. The king of Pruffia would fetch a general from the wilds of Siberia, who ex- celled all other men j and purchafe a oegro from the middle of Africa, who could im- prove his nation's commerce and welfare; he would beftow immenfe fums to draw Homer from the mades, to converfe with Solon, Numa, and Lycurgus, and at laft find perhaps, included in himfelf, the fcience of them all, WHEREAS, there have been minifters in this ifland, who would have tranfported fuch men, were they to be found in England, to the countries from whence the Prufiian king would draw them, and fpread the reign of ignorance, as wide as they did their own, IT is the intereft of a monarch, to be di- rected by the wifeft heads of a nation ; and of a minifter in a mixt government, to have the weakefl in his troop, over which he may govern. IT is difficult to find much fubmifiion in men of genius, the crown of knowledge fel- dom 156 LETTER XLIV. dom refpects the cap of folly ; it is dange- rous therefore, for a weak minifkr to employ abler heads, at leaft he is timid, and fears his refidcnce will be but (hort, when good fenfe becomes an inmate in the fame houfe, to \vhich he is not equal. MONEY then, in monarchic ftates, cannot find its way to be arbitrary, as it docs in others 5 the kkig cannot be long purchafed from his intereft, tho' the people may ; and therefore, that native influence of fuperior fenfe and virtue, is furer to fucceed, and longer remain in fuch a government, than in thofe of other kinds 5 for thefe reafons, it feems to me, to be no greater hardihip to live under the influence of a monarch, where the minifters are chofen for their real de- ferts, than in a government where all is in- fluenced by money, and the choice of them is owing to that or faction ; and tho' one may be called a free flate, and the other an arbi- trary one, yet, perhaps, as much effential free- dom and true happinefs is to be found in the former, as in the latter -, and a French flave has equal liberty with a free Briton, in the real conduct and courfe of things. No- LET T E R XLIV, NOBILITY and honors being refpe&ed ia. France, money not having the jxjwer to go- vern, and good underftanding and knowledge of all kinds finding yet that influence which they originally derive from nature, wealth may more fafely be permitted to increafe in that kingdom than in England } it cannot there fubvert the ways of providence, by giving to gold what is due to virtue - y and, as in this ifland, placing the cap of folly on the head of liberty, hoodwink and entice her to ruin, as a cur leads a blind beggar to the places and dangers he pleafes. THUS then, the money which will ruin a free ftate, may preferve an abfolute one, the fubordination which is eftablifhed makes ho- nor the great motive to all, and the univer- fal prefervative in a monarchy : the levelling idea, which money introduces into a mixt government, expels all juft authority, and ruins the ftate which virtue only can pre- ferve 5 fuch is the condition and advantage of France, and fuch the fate and folly of England. I fear I tarry here long enough, to fee the laft gafp of true liberty, and Eng- land fall, like Rome, a prey to its own na- tives > 1 5 8 LETTER XLIV. tives ; for to the caufe I have already affign- cd was it not owing, that the Roman liberty funk in the arms of the Casfars ? Shows, bribes, and pecuniary rewards, feduced the peopte from the choice of virtue, to the love of wealth and pleafure ; to preferring thofe whofe iniquitous defigns prefented them with the latter, to the former whofe virtue would not permit them fuch behaviour. I am, Tour mojl ebedient fervant. LET- LETTER XLV. 159 LETTER XLV. "To the Reverend Father F A B i o M A R E T T i, at Rome. Dear S i R, IF I am not miftaken, I have fomewhere read, that it was once a matter of debate amongft the Athenians, whether they mould permit another ftring to be added to the lyre, the power of which was already known to be fo extenfive and prevalent, over the minds of men. A SUBJECT of this kind would atprefent be looked upon by jthe fenate of this king- dom, from whence I write, as a moft frivo- lous enquiry, and altogetner unworthy the attention of men of underftanding. YET to me it feems neceflary, in all kinds of government, that every thing which can prevail upon the paffions, the fource of ac- tion in moft men, mould be ftridly fcruti- nized before it be permitted ; and tho' it be granted, that mufic may have pov/er to charm favages from their fiercenefs, may it not alfo have the effect of foothing civilized nations from manhood, and thus introduce as great an inconyeniency as advantage ? IT 160 L E T T E R XLV. IT is true, there are martial as well as ten- der powers in mufic, and the fame firings which foothe the lover's pain, may animate the foldier's glory; befides this, there is yet another ill confequence which attends this art, which is, that the frequency of being prefent at entertainments of mufic, may de- flroy the power of both, and thus the utility which fhould be derived from harmony, be loft in the frequent repetition of it j or even in fome minds, whofe compofition is more harmonious than others, it may draw atten- tion from things of greater moment, and drown the efteem of ufeful fcience in a flood of feducing pleafure. FOR fome one or other of thefe reafons, I fuppofe, Jiis holinefs has forbidden all wind mufic affifting at high mafs, the organ ex- ceptedj he has found, I prefume, that the voluntaries of the flutes and hautboys had claimed greater attention and deference from the audience, than the elevation of the hoft : the efTential duty of a catholic was poftponed to the pleafures of mufic, which, inftead of exalting devotion, was become the objecl: of it 5 in truth, that the zeal for hearing the in- ftruments LETTER XLV. 161 ftruments of thefe matters, had diffipated that for prayer and proftration before the deity. THIS, tho' an Englifhman who gave me the account feem'd to think extremely ridi- culous, I cannot avoid approving, as what- ever feduces men from their religious duty, is an object of a fovereign's care. 'When the concerto was finifh'd, it feems, the greateft number of the audience left their devotion and the church, without attending the molt efTential part of their duty. AN unlimited indulgence of this kind con- verts a temple dedicated to heaven, into a theatre, and changes worship to amufement, till the mind becomes pleafcd with nothing but the mufic, and the duty of offering up our prayers to heaven is evaporated in the joy of hearing an inchanting piece of har- mony breathed from the lips of a ikilful mu- fician : this is preferring decoration to ufe. It is difficult to preferve that' mean, which, fufficient to animate, does not drown the ob- ject of our prayers in the pomp of woi (hip. SOMETHING like this has been the confe- quence of preaching twice every Sunday in VOL. II. M the 162 LETTER XLV. the churches of England ; the audience are become critics in fermons, and nine in ten frequent churches for no other reafon, than that of deciding whether the preacher be a good orator or not ; it is no longer duty but diverfion ; prayer is contemned and ne- glected, and the oration the only thing worth their attention, without which the churches are empty. AT the reformation, when the peoples minds were to be converted from popery to proteflantifm, it was thought requifite that fermons fhould be deliver'd twice a day, to change the fentiments of thofe who were bred catholics j and perhaps at that time fuch harangues from the pulpit were abfolutely neceffary to gain on the hearers, and bring them over to that change of wprfhip. BUT it happen'd in that refpecl as it has fince, at the revolution j the very things which were then ufeful, have been fince ren- der'd detrimental by their continuation, and the proceeding in the fame way produced a continual fcene of changing, till the effects of thefe caufes want as much to be oppofed, 2 both LETTER XLV* 163 both in the church and ftate, as thofe of po- pery and arbitrary power did at the time of the reformation and revolution. PREACHING againft the catholic religion, has at laft preached all religion out of the kingdom ; and acting on Prefbyterian and Whig principles, all government. THE firft has created a contempt for doing the duty of a chriftian, in making fermons the chief object of the peoples attention in religious acts ; and the latter a flight for the idea of kings, in making the minifter the ruling power, in contradiction to the fove- reign's rights, and peoples liberties. THIS nation feems at prefcnt in that dead calm, which is obferved to precede a ftorm 5 and heaven only knows what the workings of this ocean of people may be found to throw up after the tempeft which muft agi- tate it, is fubfided. IF it perfifts long in this way, it will exhi- bit a new phenomenon in political nature, that a nation can hold together wifhout the uniting principles of religion and government M 2 (for 164 LETTER XLV. (for I cannot call the names or things their realities) 5 moft certain it is, that the active powers of thefe two parts are almofl totally annihilated. THINGS appear in this light but to few, I own, and the foreboder of evil is the deri- iion of moft ; yet furely the hour will come, when this divination will be accomplimed, and the liberties of England be overwhelm'd and' buried by fome eruption, not lefs fatal than thofe terrible eruptions of Vefuvius, which have buried men, herds, and cities, in one common grave ; alien as I am, I can- not avoid weeping over this fickening ftate, and wifh that a new land of liberty may rife, Phoenix like, from the ames of the old. I am, Tour mojl obedient fervant. LET- LETTER XLVL 165 LETTER XLVI. 70 the Reverend Father D o M i N i c p M A N z o N i, at Rome. Dear SIR, AFTER having long lived in this ifland, and as I imagine, having made my-? felf fomething acquainted with the manners and capacity of the natives, I fee no reafon to repent being born an Italian, and tho' not replete with all the glory of an old, yet not difpleafed with the lot of being a modern, Roman. METHINKS, if the producing great men in all kinds of human excellency, be an ho- nor to a country, Italy bids the fairefl in the world for that reputation. THOUGH it muft be allow'd, that this iflc has produced men of genius in all kinds of literature, and fome equal to what any na- tion has ever bred, yet there are other parts of genius, in which it has been very defici- ent; the pencil has never (hone in the hand of an excellent painter, nor the chiflel mi- mick'd life in that of a fculptor, who have been natives of this kingdom $ and tho' per- M 3 haps i66 LETTER XLVI. haps amongft the ancient Romans there were none truly excellent in either of thofe arts, wh'o were born Italians, yet the revival of arts, letters, and genius in Tufcany, has given birth to matters in each way, which have ex- celPd all the modern world, and rival'd the old. Music too has received its greateft powers and honors from the Italian genius, and no European nation has been the parent of ar- tifts in this ftudy, who have merited any comparifon with the muficians of Italy. I N this fcience England has already pro- duced fome great mailers ; and at prefent the natives are much advanced in the true tafte and knowledge of mufic. THAT the church has fpread her influence more or lefs over all the world, from the chair which receives our fovereign pontiff, is a truth which will admit of no difpute. OF what nation then could a man be born, where fo much honor could be drawn from his place of nativity, as from the land of Italy j and tho' the Englifh reproach us with the name LETTER XLVI. 167 name of flaves, let them fupport their free- dom as long as we did ours, and then we will allow them the merit of preferving that liberty which they aflame. I have often re- e<5ted on the different conquefts, which have been made by Italians over the face of Europe j we firft conquer'd the valour of all mankind by arms, then the underflanding by letters ; to which, and to our language, all Europe has been fubdued; the foul was fubmitted to religious influence, from the fee of Rome ; the mulic, painting, and fculp- ture of Italy have obtain'd homage from all the nations of Europe : what is yet more fln- gular than all the other phenomena, fcience, arts, and letters, have twice rifen to their zenith in that land. WHAT is there in nature in that fpot which at different times imparted to man thefe ex- cellencies, a thing unknown to any other nation upon the globe ? THE very remains of ancient Rome are a delight, which can never take place in this country ; for, tho' buildings may tumble in- to duft in all nations, what land can boaft to have produced fuch illuftriqus inhabitants, M 4 whofe LETTER XLVI. whofe characters are conftantly annex'd to the ruins of Rome ? I am fufpicious the Bri- tifh fenate, fo fond of being thought to re- femble the Roman, has produced no beings which can in any fenfe compare with thofe of ancient Rome. Where lhall we find a Brutus, Scasvola, Fabricius, Regulus, Deciij Scipios, and Ciceros, in the lift of thofe who have fill'd the Englifh fenate-houfe ; will Sir Thomas More anfwer to them all ? METHINKS, a nation fettled into arbitrary power, is preferable to one which is break- ing into that ftate, as a fterile land is prefer- able to a tempeftuous ocean. THE moments which pafs in thofe deftruc^ tive times, are terrible to the inhabitants of thofe countries where they happen, I fhall therefore as foon as poffible quit this ifland, before this Sampfon of a minifter in blindnefs, and mere brutal ftrength, pulls down the pil- Jars of the conftitution, and buries himfelf and his fellow-fubje&s beneath its ruins. WHEN this calamity has happened, will there then remain the founds of dulcet har- mony, to foothe their diftrefs j the charms of LETTER XL VI. 109 of painting and fculpture to fafcinate the mind, and withhold it from reflecting on its loft condition, as in the city where 1 drew niy iirft breath ? THE poor, and rich if any remain, will they then enjoy that enthufiafm which warms the heart of penury in acts of devotion, that fpreads itfelf thro' all Italy j will their diftrefs awake their vows to heaven, and their fuffer- ings recall the banim'd comfort of religion ? I FEAR, alas ! it will not be prudent to remain here ; let me retire, like the ftork, to other realms, before the everlafting win- ter of this land arrives. Expect me in Italy, and receive me as Tour moft devoted and humble fervanf* LET- I 7 o LETTER XLVII. LETTER XLVII. To the Reverend Father D o M i N i co MANZONI, at Rome. Dear SIR, I MAKE no doubt of your having read thejie'cle de Louis quatorze^ written by Monfr. de Voltaire j and being pleafed with his manner of recounting all that is neceiTary in a reign to be known by men of true un- derflanding, andjuft tafte. AMONGST other things, I could not avoid obferving two which relate to England j one of which does this nation much honor, and the other is by no means true. THE firft is, what he fays relating to Hen- rietta, fifler of Charles the fecond ; whom, after fa-wing given her the defcription and praifr (he merited, he affigns as the perfon who introduced tafte and politenefs amongft the women of Paris ; beings who at that tirn$, according to the picture which he has given LETTER XLVII. 171 given them, at the coming of the queen of Sweden to that city, were very different from what they are at this hour. THIS acknowledgment in favour of En- glim ladies, is without doubt, an honor to the fex in England ; and if the fame care had been continued in their education, and manner of living together, the Britim dames would to this hour have furpaffed the French, as much as they did in that timej they want nothing but that culture, and their manners. THE other remark is certainly not true, where he fays, that fcience and literature pafs'd from Italy, thro' France into England; if it began firft in Florence, it certainly leaped from thence into this kingdom ; the very beft Englim writers have lived before the the revival of letters in France. SIR Thomas Moore, Shakefpeare, Ben Johnfon, Beaumont and Fletcher, the four laft in the dramatic way, are yet much efteemed ; the firft of them the greateft ge- nius which any nation has produced, and the prefent fupport of the theatre. SPENCER i 7 3 LET T E R XLVII. SPENCER in another kind of poetry, ex- cellent and immortal; Lord Bacon, Sir Wal- ter Raleigh, and many others, who are to this day the honor and efleem of England, and Engliilimeii. WHAT truth then is t'i:re in what Mon- fieur Voltaire fays, in refpedl of the Englifh having derived fcience from the reign of Lewis the fourteenth, when thcfe writers were dead before he was born, and the Englifti ftage at the perfection it is at pre- fent ? THIS then, muft have rifen from defign or malice, neither of which can have any effect on thofe who read him, and know the hiftory of this kingdom ; he muft certainly be better acquainted with what relates to literature in England, than he appears to be in this account. METHINKS it is impoffible in thinking of this man, to avoid reflecting how inti- mately the greateft meannefs may be allied, ia the human compofition, with the moft exalted LETTER XLVII. 173 exalted talents, and a bad heart deftroy the powers of an able underftanding. THIS very man is a moil convincing in- ftance of this truth ; with powers of intel- lect which might gain an afcendant over all understandings ; with an aptitude and fa- cility of expreffing his fentiments, not to be found but in few 5 concife and clear, with- out defcending into frivolous litdenelfes in remarks ; precife in his obfervations, leaving enough to chance and the courfe of things, and yet, affigning fufficiently to the inter- vention and delign of man, for the honor of human nature. WHAT a mortifying thing it is to fay, after all this, that a littlenefs of foul, mixt with this underftanding, has dtbafed this man to the commiffion of the meaneft ac- tions. His bafe jealoufy of Maupertuis, has loft him his reputation, and his trifling with the king of Pruffia the Friendfhip of that mo- narch ; fallen from a fituation to be envied by every man, who would choofe to pafs his 2 life 174 LETTER XLVII. life in that delicious manner, which can only be enjoyed by the friend and companion of a king, in whom royalty and fcience have made a perfect union, the rareft phsenome- non upon earth j the great comet will pro* bably make a hundred revolutions, before they may be again found fo perfectly com- bined in the head of a monarch. WHO then in looking on the underftand- ing of Voltaire, mufl not pity him in this lofs ; who that turns his eyes on the quali- ties of his heart, muft not defpife him for deferving it ? ALAS ! fuch is the condition of fuperior intellects, that nature feems to have taken pleafure in humbling their fuperiority, by fome inferior qualities blended in the heart, which reduces almoft all men to the fame level ; a Verulam and a Voltaire have only proved the wideft vibration of the pendulum, from the fartheft point of fuperior know- ledge, to the oppofite of extreme folly, be- tween which all the various characters of human kind may be found. WITH LETTER XL VII. 175 WITH extremes in neither, may I live uncarefled by the greateft, beloved by the beft, and tailing neither exaltation nor de- bafement, die your friend, and that of man- kind. Adieu. I am, Moft affcRionately, Tour moft obedient. LET- 176 LETTER XLVIII. LETTER XLVIII. To the Reverend Father F A B i o M A R E T T i, at Rome. Dear SIR, IS it not true, that mankind in their ac- counts of nature's productions, have made their circle fhorter than they ought, and not enough attended to the whole progrefs which (he takes ? PERHAPS, if we could penetrate into the parts which compofe this univerfe, we mould difcover all to be the ancient philofophy of the EH, and in fact, no more than one eter- nal fyflem of truth and perfection. WE are accuftomed to fee, that every fpring pufhes forth the leaves and bloflbms, the juicy fummer fwells, and the purple au- tumn ripens the cluttering grape, and then conclude the procefs finished. THIS is the annual courfe of nature in pro- ducing that fruit, mort, and of fix months operations only ; yet, this is not the whole procefs of that (ingle production : years vary- ing in themfelves, may generate the moft perfect LETTER XLVIII. 177 perfect fruit but once in a hundred $ and this enlarges the circle of nature in that refpect, and indicates that to know all the effects of funs, rains, and other caufes of the greateft excellency in the fruits of the earth, we mould attend a longer circulation than the fhort-lived revolution of fix months. PERHAPS the whole combining caufes of this effect are not happily united but once in an age, and the perfect wine of Burgundy is as rare as a comet j tho' wine be the pro- duction of every year, as ftars are every even- ing's profpect. THE fame feems to be true in regard to mankind ; tho' every year produces numbers of men, much refembling one another in form and understanding j yet, the happy union which creates genius comes extremely rare, and is in like manner a phenomenon of more than centuries, to produce, a comet upon earth ; which, contrary to thofe in the heavens, is lefs gazed at and admired during its reign amongft the lefler mortajs, than when it has parted away, and is no longer vifible but in its effects and remains. VOL. II. N THOSE 178 LETTER XLVIIf. THOSE whofe penetration fanfies that alt mankind have been alike at all times, are extremely fuperficial ; were the old Britons like the prefent ? And did the old Romans refemble thofe of Nero and Caligula's reis;n? Who was there in thefc latter times at Rome, who would have imitated the felf- devoted Decii ? Will an Englishman at prefent refign his head to be fevered from his body, be- caufe he cannot renounce the oath which he has taken, as did the virtue of Sir Thomas More ? will he fmile at the executioner, and with a ferenity of foul meet the block, as eafily as a table fpread with dainties ? No fires will ever more be lighted, to burn a willing martyr in this land, and perhaps in no other in Europe j the fpirit is fled. IN genius, as in refolution; in fuperior fenfe, as well as fuperior firmnefs of mind -, in the foul, as in fruits and flowers ; there are points of time in a national hiftory, which are more excellent than others. PERHAPS fome refined and fubtler capa- city may fee the caufes of the exaltatrorr of thefe faculties In men j but whoever looks on LETTER XLVIII. 179 on them at the hour of their being in higheft perfection, has his eye turned on a wrong point of time. WHATEVER muft be the combining pow- ers, which produce thefe phenomena, it is at their birth, and not at their full growth of manhood, that they muft be difcovered. THAT there are happy periods, which are creative of fuch fuperiority in nature, can fcarce be denied; becaufe, generally more than one man receives the tincture of thefe excellencies at the fame time, and a general exaltation of human faculties reigns at one aera in the fame. kingdom, more than at all others. To fay then, that men have at all times been alike, is to fay fomething which expe- rience proves to be untrue j but to afTert that the whole circles of two kingdoms, from their dawning greatnefs to their final difTolu- tions, are much refembling one another, is what approaches very nearly to veracity ; the whole progrefs of two nations ranged fide by fide, refemble one another in their N 2 parallel i8o LETTER XLVIII. parallel points, more than the fame kingdom at two different times ; an old Briton and an old Roman, had more refemblance than Cincinnatus and Mark Anthony, or Sir Fran- cis Drake and the late Admiral Matthews. THE great care then, which mould be the purfuit of every minifter, is to find pro- per objects for the foul of man, and preferve that felf-confcioufnefs of its own greatnefs, which is natural to men of the moil exalted fpirit. No ministers have fo manifeftly miftaken the ways of governing men, as the late mi- niftry of this kingdom ; one total ignorance of human nature, or defign of fubduing all hearts to the influence of money, has been the favourite fcheme ; and becaufe men have been purchafed to do wrong, they have vainly imagined, that they might be bought to do right, which is in many cafes impof- fible. THE ridicule which has been thrown up- on patriotifm, honor, integrity, and religion, have done more real mifchief in a political fenfe, LETTER XLVIII. 181 fenfe, than millions of money, nay, than any fum can reflore. THE laughing thefe things out of counte- nance has debafed the fpirit of the nation ; and too much reafoning on every thing will have the fame effedt, I mean what is called reafoning by the prefent half-thinkers of this ifland. WHEN the facred notion, which is annex- ed to honor and thefe other qualities, are laughed away, there is an end to all true in- centive amongfl men ; and if foldiers of any kind are animated by any other motive befides, it deftroys the very idea of a foldier ; there muft be fomething that has the air of roman- tic in the manners of that nation which at- tempts great actions, and fucceeds. IN the lafl war, the navy had all the cap- tures given to them, which were taken by the refpeclive captains ; by this means honor was lull'd to fleep, and many were broke for cowardice at the end of the war, who had gotten great riches during its continua- tion j the commander who was as active as Mercury, or any other thief, in catching N 3 merchant 182 LETTER XLVIII. merchant fhips and prizes, was as lame as Vulcan in purfuing a man of war, and an acquisition of honor. THE nature of a foldier was by this means totally fubverted, by placing his motive to action on wrong fprings, in the human com- pofition. There has never yet been a nation, who has greatly exalted itfelf by what is called Superior reafon j fome kind of enthu- iiafrn has been the fource of all great actions : felf-debating makes all purfuits cold and in* animate, and finds too little reality in any thing, to rifque much for the obtaining it; even country, wife, family, and friends, are unequal to that production in a reafoner. THE Greeks owed more to the love of their country, which animated them to the fervice of it, than to all their philofophers and fages ; the Romans were fired to action by the fame incentive. WITH all that knowledge which Boullain- villiers has fo liberally beftowed on the Arabs, they would have refted in their dry defarts, without daring any thing of confequence, a fet of thieves and plunderers, if Mahomet had LETTER XL VIII. 183 had not inflamed their minds by views of pa- ra'dife, to actions of immortal daring. WHAT have we feen in almofl our own times ! the Dutch performing miracles to fave themfelves and their moraffes from the Spa- niard, when public virtue in poverty urged them to action ; and now they are over- whelmed in wealth, as private men, they would fcarce move a finger to defend their country from invafion, becaufe that public fpirit is expired. NOTHING then is fo weak in a minifter, as effacing the prevalency of thofe ideas, and pretending to fupply all by dint of money, THEY may indeed bride men to be afTaf- fins, informers, and deflroyers of their coun- try, by means of the pernicious influence of gold j but to virtue, valour, and public good, it is fcarce poffible j there is fomething re- pugnant in the nature of thefe things, to the accepting pecuniary rewards -, a military or- der hanging at a button-hole, a ribband crof- fing a breaft, the word honor even, can do more in the hands of a great man, than the N 4 millions 184 LETTER XLVIII. millions which were fquander'd the laft war j with it every thing may be atchievqd, and without it nothing. I THINK, a government mould never fuf- fer any difquifitions on the nature of fuch things, or permit men to reafon themfelves, as it is called, out of every virtue, into the purfuit of every vice j the famion of examin- ing all things, is unrealizing every thing which is active in the human frame. How eafy is it to laugh a man out of what muff give him fatigue and trouble, into an opinion of eafe and Safety ; money is never won by pains ; the foldier who mounts the breach has five -pence a day, and the change- alley Jew gets a thoufand pounds during that time; yet, the former, I prefume, is the'honefter man, and defends the property of him who laughs at him for the folly of be- ing mot at for five-pence a day, whilft the latter is honored for his riches; a Jew who has plundered his country of a million, finds a kind reception by a minister, when a foldier, who has fuftain'd his country's honor at the lofs of his limbs, is denied admittance. THE LETTER XL VIII. 185 THE very value of money is as ideal as that of honor, and an American chief wpuld defpife gold, who would be piqued to any defperate action by glory; a blue bead of glafs, or a common mirror, will operate on them ftronger than money, at leaft it would till the natives of Europe feduced them from their original ftate ; and I believe, at prefent a belt of wampum, deliver'd by an Indian chief, binds him as truly to his word, as any treaty made amongft chriftian princes at the Pyrenean mountains, Utrecht, or Aix la Chapelle ; they have affixed an idea of fa- cred to thefe things, and farther than thefe ideas operate, no treaty can bind or oblige, in whatever manner it may be executed. THIS nation, of all the others of Europe, has fuffer'd the moft by neglecting the in- fluence which honor ought to have amongft them; the very nature of its conftitutioii prevents it from being filled with numbers of perfons diftindtly honored for their fer- vice; here is no inferior order of knight- hood, and a fimple knight is to be found amongft grocers, tobacconifts, cheefemon- gers, and other trades ; which effaces its ef- 3 fefts, 1 86 LETTER XL VIII, fects, and renders it below the consideration of a^man who has deferved well of his coun- try, either in arts, arms, or fcience. Too many honorary diftinctions alfo, as the nation is of the mixed kind of govern- ment, would render that part which be- llows honors, too powerful; thofe fo diftin- guifhed, would find an attachment to that alone, and the balance would preponderate on that fide. In France the king is not di- vided from the country's intereft, (the peo- ple of England think he poffibly may); but univerfal honor, confider'd as facred, would have" a jufl and true influence on all ; no- thing difcovers this fo effe&ually as a regir ment of foldiers, which has been once efteem- ed for fome gallant action ; the fame fpirit runs thro' it for generations, and the lead exalted man of the kingdom becomes ani- mated with the gallant foul of the corps, in fix months after he has been lifted into it, and filled with a fpirit of bravery, to which he was before a flranger ; and yet, the pay of thefe men is no better than thofe of other regiments, where no fuch animating princi- ple prevails: in the day of battle the honor of LETTER XLVIII. 187 of the regiment fhall operate on their 'minds, ftronger than untold fums of gold ; and this fpirit grows by indulgence, whereas that ari- iing from money is ruin'd by its reward. THIS is the prefent fate of England. Adieu. I am your mofl obedient feruant. LET- i88 LETTER XLIX. LETTER XLIX. 70 the Reverend Father C u R T i o MARINELLI at Rome. Dear S i R, IF multiplicity of printing is a proof of much learning, the ftate of letters was never in fo flourifhing a condition as at pre- fent j and yet, notwithftanding this, it really was never fo truly the contrary, fmce the firft rife of learning in this iQand. o NAY, fo true it is, tho' it may feem pa- radoxical, that even that art, which was the greater! propagator of fcience, is now the mofl likely to prove its deftruction, and printing will probably become the greater! enemy to letters. To produce works of fcience, fuppofmg that there are men of genius in a kingdom, literature muft be held in honor, and ca- refTed j genius is as coy as a virgin, and will make no more advances to the company of the great, than chaftity in Sufanna did to the two LETTER XLIX. two ciders : it feels its own fuperiority, and generally being united with pride in the fame breaft, rather fhuns, than officioufly feeks the acquaintance of fuperiors. This may be blamed with juftice perhaps -, and yet, fuch is the nature of man, that a genius is as little affecled by moralizing, as a dolt. YET, though pride prevents their feeking fuperior company, neceffity obliges them to feek fuftenance. It has been my conftant remark alfo, that lazinefs is almoft the infe- parable companion of fuperior parts ; they defpife what they difcover with fo much eafe j and yet far from being humbled by it, they contemn ten times more thofe who cannot fee fo much, and yet admire that little. DOUBLY lazy from the eafe of doing things, and the ill-judging opinion of thofe who praife aukwardly, and fhcw by every remark that they have never conceived the author's defign (for an eulogy mifplaced catches the heart of none but the weak) they feek the fhorteft way of getting the moft money, i 9 o LETTER XLIX. money, and fince they are not fought by the great, neceffarily become the hackneys of bookfellers. REDUCED to this flage, genius is not the thing which is beft paid for : abflracts of au- thors already famous ; fyftems made from fcraps cut from various authors and patted on brown paper ; complements of compile- ments of all kinds; dictionaries in arts, fcience, phyfic, trade, commerce, love, and rafcality; for, the fcoundrel's dictionary has been lately printed in London, which I hope will compleat the work and tafte of it ; are thole which have beft rewarded the com- pilers. ALL thefe things are fure pay ; the au- thor's fheet brings him his money, which he and his bookfeller have agreed for; with- out the pain of thinking he eats and refls in peace, when he has done his daily labour. ON the contrary, if by the flricteft appli* cation, a man fhould have difcovered any thing new in fcience or art, advanced the welfare, health, or happinefs of mankind, perhaps he may, after feven years pains, be TC- LETTER XLIX. ?9I rewarded by a bookfeller full as well, as if he had parted together the works of former authors, or tranilated three whole months from the French. HENCE it muft happen that fcience and literature muft foon be quite difgraced, be- ing without honor and polite reception : the bookfellers not daring to print what may leiTen their former property in authors on the the fame fubjedt, timid to engage in new works, and the writer in no ftate to publifli for himfclf (for it has been much the fate of genius, to be wedded to poverty in this kingdom) it follows, that literature muft na- turally fall into decay, and fcience feems to be at a full flop. ALL thefe dictionaries, and complements in arts, are juft well enough written to flatter the underftandings of the ignorant, and amufe with that moon-fhine of knowledge, which gives juft light enough to miftake one animal for another, and impart one kind of deceit- ful colour to all objects. 192 LETTER XL1X. IN truth, thefe abftrafts, and compiled works feem to be contrived, to make every one who reads them, underftand nothing, and render the authors, from whence they were drawn, altogether unftudied, and not underftood : thus, letters will be probably deftroyed by letters. THESE are the prefent advantages, which are drawn from genius and printing j and in this manner it muft remain, unlefs more men of rank, fortune, and nobility, will follow the noble example of the Earl of H fs, and give countenance to genius, when it appears in this country. FROM this ftate of things it muft happen, that the French academies of belles lettres, and fciences (the firft of which is honorable without penfion) muft at laft conquer the genius of England in letters. HONOR is the vital principle of every thing that is truly praife-worthy ; the perfon who attempts a work with that view, will always endeavour to give it the utmoft per- fection he is able ; the other to finifti it as foon as poffible, money being the refearch of LETTER XLIX. 193 the latter, and eternal praife the object of the former. To make literature thrive, and call forth the latent feeds of genius, academies of this kind fhould be eftablifh'd, where productions in belles lettres might be read, and the opi- nion of the beft judges taken, before the work is given to the world j this would im- part luftre to letters and weight to the per- formance y and bookfellers might then feek writers, as the latter are obliged to feek them at preient. A GENEROUS reception at the tables of the great, as learned men are fure of find- ing in Italy, would impart a more polite manner of conceiving, or at leaft delivering fentiments, than at prefent prevails in this kingdom. THE ladies, methinks, fhould be as fond of prefiding in a circle of learning, as in a tumult of cards ; and a duchefs might draw as much honor from having the politeft af- fembly of men of letters, as from that of the greateft rout. I wifh the time would come, VOL, II. O when LETTER XLIX. when the females would univerfally make that manner a rule, and every lady's fame depend upon her reception and encourage- ment of the literati : this has prevail'd in Italy and France, and one lady you know, the ce- lebrated Laura Buffi, has obtain'd a profef- forfhip, and been made member of the aca- demy at Bolognia, which {he fupports with honor, and has a chair in their afiemblies de- flined for her alone. To defpife the underftanding of women, is to lofe the grace of many kinds of writing, and fometimes the matter 5 knowledge like diamonds from the hands of the lapidary, receives its figure and brilliancy from, the hands of the fair fex, tho' they do not create the gem. I am, TVur mojl obedient fervant. LET- L E T T E R L. 195 L E T T E k L< "To the Reverend Father BATISTA G u A R i N i, at Rome. Dear SIR, IT is by nations, as by individuals, there is no more pretence to expect perfection from the one, than the other j the moft ex- alted people, like the moft exalted under- ftandings, have their foibles and vices, like thofe who bear no rank in the nations of the earth ; and tho' there may have been cer- tain asras in which they feem to aflume the nature of angels, there are others where they join that of the brute - 3 it is the condition of, a whole community, as well as of thofe in- dividuals which compofe it. NOTHING is more common than to fee al man of fuperior u-nderftanding duped, in the moft common articles of life, where men of much lefs fenfe would have efcaped j the moft prepofterous and abfurd paflions, the ridiculous and ill-founded prejudices, O 2 196 LETTER L. poflefs minds, which if we faw no part of them but their fuperior hours, we mould fcarce credit the weaknefs into which they fall. No nation is more replete with experi- ments of this kind, than this which I now live amongft ; indeed the inhabitants of the whole earth have the fame feeds of foibles, but the plant does not thrive to the fame degree, which is to be feen here ; every thing commonly met with of that kind in England is a caracatura, compared with what is to be found in other kingdoms. IT feems to be the particular defign of this government, as it is now adminiftred, to let the minds and difpofitions of the inhabi- tants run wild, into all extremes which do not intermeddle in their maxims of ftate. THERE is one weaknefs which feems al- moft univerfal, which is, the unwillingnefs to allow any merit in the French productions of arts, fcience, and literature ; and tho' there are a thoufand inftances, in which, many cuftoms amongft the French might be adopt- ed L E T T E R L. 197 cd with advantage, in the encouraging arts, fciences, learning and commerce ; yet it is diffident that they are French, to inhibit their being introduced into this country, A PERSON who gives the due praife which belongs to that nation, and to his own coun- trymen, is confidered as little lefs than a re- bel, and runs no fmall rifque of receiving fome difplealing expreffions $ he will moft certainly be ill thought of, and confidered as a well-wifher to the Gallic nation. THE aversion to all which is the product of that people, is the reigning paffion amongft the number of this iiland ; and many a ufe- ful purfuit has been quitted, becaufe it was originally French. THIS difpofition is of much dilTervice to the national good, and this envy or hatred is for ever breaking out in companies, where any one fpeaking in the favour of French manners, is generally confidered as depre- ciating Engliih ; tho' the whole intent of that fpeaker be, to have the fame introduced into his own country, and make it as perfect 03 as 198 LETTER L. as poffible : in truth, to fpeak well of France, is the fame as to fpeak ill of England, and is generally received in that manner. THIS tafte is notwithstanding to be con- fidered as general, rather than univerfal, and yet, it is perhaps, as univerfal as any cuftom in the kingdom -, the people of good fenfe and knowledge of the nation, are not to be numbered amongft them however. IF you praife the Spanifh honor, the Ger- man bravery, the Italian mufic, painting, fculpture, and architecture, there is not the leaft vifible jealoufy ; an Englishman is the inoft ready creature to avow their fuperiority, in thefe particulars ; but if the French are mentioned in the like manner, there will be ten thoufand difficulties ftarted, he will make a hundred evafions to avoid acceding to that truth, which he cannot abfolutely denyj there is a kind of contempt for all that is French, ^nd yet a bafe fear of their fuperiority. Tins has its influence in the ftatefmanal- fo, and under the delufive notion of the fupe- rior bravery of Englifhmen, they leave their king- L E T T E R L. 199 kingdom unprovided with defence, prefum- ing that Englifh peafants who have never known the ufe of arms becaufe they have never been trufted with them, can repell an invafion from France, of a regular and well- difciplined force. THIS very neglecl: is a monftrous expence to this kingdom ; it renders a fleet of mips neceflary to defend their coafts in two or three places, which, after all, are ineffectual where the paflage is fo mort, if the beft fea- men are to be credited. BY means of this, double the men of war become necefTary for the Engllm, that are for the kingdom of France -, the laft defline none to the defending their coafts, and are at eafc about the ill effects which any defcent can caufe, becaufe they confide in a militia well train'd in arms j the Englifh dare not quit theirs, becaufe they have not land forces equal to repell an invafion. AN imitatation of their neighbours in this refpecl: would certainly be of infinite ufe, and O 4 pre- 2oo L E T T E R L. preferve the nation from that ruin which threatens it, unlefs the rniniftry may hereaf- ter prevent it, by ruining it themfelves : it is difficult to decide with what other view this infatuation, of neglecting all military difci- pline, can be fuffered amongft the common people. IN Paris, I obferved a very different turn of thinking - 3 it is the French fathion to talk much of the fuperior excellency of the Eng- lim, in arms, fcience, and learning ; to fo great a degree is that carried, that a gentle- man has written a comedy, called the An- glomania ; indeed it has never been prefented but privately, however, it is fufficient to mew the prefent reigning difpofition of the Pa- rifians, NOTHING can recommend a thing at Pa- ris, more than having it faid in its favour, that it is of Englifh production -, our filks are preferred to their own, and the royal fa- mily of France has been more than once cloathed in the manufactures of the Englifh : a gentleman, who is imagined to underftand thefe affairs well, has told me, that the bal- lance L T T E R L. 201 lance of trade between thefe two nations, il- licit and permitted, is in favour of England ; in this however, I am a true catholic, and act on implicit faith. THIS I am fure of, that no fcheme will be rejected at Paris, becaufe it comes from London, and none left unrewarded ; becaufe J have known feveral that have been well received ; tho' there is more than one man in this kingdom, who having contrived ufe- ful machines, have never yet met reward or encouragement, and at prefent languid in obfcurity. THAT England has once been the de- ferved wonder of Europe, is certainly indif- putable; the fire has blazed extremely bright, and the fuel has been the fooner confumed ; the prefent miniftry, whofe duty it is to con- tinue that fupply, are inattentive to the con- fequence, and conlider it poffible for the great particulars to be at eafe and happy, without caring whether the people are or not. THERE is fcarce a motive to human ac- tions, J mean a laudable one, which is not totally 202 L E T T E R L. totally exhaufted -, patriotifm, or love of our country, is now ridiculed even in the little boroughs, and banimed all polite company j religion has no longer intereft fufficient to create a difpute in its favour j even Lord Bolingbroke's pofthumous works do not fell. The minds of the profefTed free-thinkers are fettled into a thorough conviction, that reli- gion is a plaufible error, and at prefent are in no neceffity of reading any thing to con- firm them in that idea ; and yet this arifes from the infufficiency of all kinds of fubjects to move men to read them, ? and not from im- proved knowledge, or deeper thinking. THE whole motive to action in this ifland is the enriching the individual, where every purfuit is lawful, which does not mifcarry ; a man who has held confiderable employ- ments under the crown, to whom the diftri- bution of tickets was entrufted in the laft lottery, violated the law made on that ac- count, in his own favour immediately, and yet he retains his places, and I hear of no punifhment which he is like to undergo -j-. THE f He has been fincc punifhed, by being obliged to pay not more than the intereft of the money which he had taken f\-om the time of his committing the crime, to the day of his fentence. L E T T E R L. 203 THE fame is to be found in all poffible ways where it is practicable 5 and yet thefc people flill believe that a nation can hold to- gether, where every part is corrupted : they might as well expect this of a human body, and it would be as true ; the caufc is hid from common eyes, and others are regardlefs of the event. I am, Tour moft obedient fervanf. J.ET- $04 L IE T T R LJ. LETTER LI. 70 /&? Reverend Father F i L i p p c BON i NT, ^ Rome, Dear S i R^ DURING the time I tarried in Paris, I could never perceive that the French mufic was ever adapted to the words which accompanied them - 9 no paffion, whether love or hatred, anger or defpair, were at- tended with thofe founds, which are uttered by thofe who are under the influence of ei- ther of thefe paffions. | THE lover, but for his a&ion in his ten- der paffages, would to my hearing have been indiftinguifhable from thofe in his rage ; the muiic feem'd as well adapted for the ex- preffing one fenfation as the other in each circamttance ; this made the French opera a moft difpleafing entertainment to my ears, efpeciatly when every thing was accompa- nied with a fquawl, which is as much out tune, as the crying of cats, or a pig leading to the Daughter. NOTWITH- 2 LETTER LI. 205 NOTWITHSTANDING this, to the fenfe of feeing, an opera in France is an agreeable amufementj even the chorus of lingers, which made my ears thrill with horror, of- fered an agreeable entertainment to my eyes, and in fome meafure abated the diftrefs of hearing ; and tho' Jelliot gave me pain in his linging, yet Dupres charmed me with his graceful attitudes in dancing j the eye is exquifite, and the ear almoft void of diftinc- tion in the natives of France. Yet it mufl be acknowledged, that the little cbanfons a boire y and gay fonnets, are fet naturally and well, though all the others are infuffer- able 3 thefe are innate to every French crea- ture. PERHAPS the French language, which ifeems but badly adapted for poetry, is not capable of being fet to mufic, in parts which exprefs the pathetic, or any other paffion ; and the fame fault has crept into the founds which form their language, through want of accuracy in the organs of hearing, that has into their mufic from the fame caufe. METHINKS, 266 LETTER Li. METHINKS Voltaire writes much better in profe, than poetry; and no poet, Rouffeau excepted, amongft this nation, has fucceed- ed fo well in verfe as in profe $ the language is abfolutely repugnant to the meafures and fweetnefs of true verification ; jet it be- comes profe extremely well in moft kinds of writing, particularly the narrative, airy, and trifling, in which it excells all languages that I under/land. THE language of Great-Britain is well a- dapted for poetry ; it has a ftrength which is not to be found in the French, and a variety which is wanting in the Italian, from that kind of monotony which attends our words being terminated in vowels. INDEED, after having lived long amongft thefe founds, I am inclined to think, that no language is better form'd for being well put to mufic than the Englim ; and Mr. Handel, and others of their own compofers, have mewn, that this obfervation is true beyond contradiction ; a thing which I ne- ver could perceive in the French competi- tions. YET, LETTER LI. 207 YET, this does not feem to have much influenced the opinion of the inhabitants of this ifland ; a few women, and a few men, who are judges of harmony, for the fame reafon that birds are of pneumatics, becaufe one has fled through Italian mufic, as the others have through the air, determine all in favour of Italy, and a caftrato is the only finger, and Italian the only melody on earth. To fuch a degree is this carried^ that in complaifance to the molt miferable fet of Italian fingers that ever accompanied any in- ftrument above a falt-box, or a Jews harp, an Englifli opera, compofed by an Englifh mufician, was prohibited being prefented $ and the living language of a country, capa- ble of equal graces with the Italian, well fet to mulic, which was univerfally under- ftood, has been poftponed in preference to bad voices, unknown language, old fcenes, and dirty cloaths. This is encouraging fo- reigners in a true fenfe, and outdoing the good Samaritan, who, though he poured wine and oil into the wounds of a ftranger, did not prefume to flarve the natives of his own 5 LETTER LI. own country : this then is the land of true hofpitality. IT is a true obfervation of the Englifh, that they love their country, and are not much attached to loving one another j and that the Scotch love not their country, but are very warm in affection for their countrymen ; and yet the Englishman fhall continually exclaim againft England, and never quit it for another place ; and the Scot harangue in the praife of his native land, and never wifh to return to it. METHINKS, the language which is mofl capable of being fet to thofe founds which accompany fenfations of the foul, mould be the beft ; and as the inhabitants of this earth, whether white, brown, or black, ex- prefs their feelings by rnqch the fame tone of voice in joy or forrow, fear, hope, anger, or love j it is a moft amazing thing, how the founds which exprefs thofe ideas mould in themfelves be fo different, and that words which have no affinity in found, ihould ex- prefs the fame idea, as ?'*'?, amor, love, in Greek, Latin, and Englifh, or how that feeling, L E T T E R LI. 209 fed ing, which feems to be one in all the different breafts of an Athenian, Roman, and Briton, fhould prompt the organs of fpeech, to fuch different pronunciations. THIS to me appears' more difficult to be explained, than the origin of language itfelf; whoever obferves on what paffes in the hu- man mind, muft have remarked, that every object of the fenfes, as naturally prompts us to fpeak of it, as to attend to it. THE excellence or fingularity of any object will urge us to exprefs it by fome found, as will novelty, and ten thoufand other circum- ftances j betides, there is a certain, though perhaps inexplicable connection between the organs of fpeech, and thofe of the fenfes. Who can hear an exquifite performer in ma- fic, behold a finimed piece of painting, tafte a delicious fruit, or fmell an enlivening odor, without being preft by the excellency of each to an exclamation in their praife $ and this as well alone as in company ? BUT that the natives of one fide of a river fhould call the fame objects by different VOL. II. P names, 210 L E T T E R LI. names, from thofe of the other, or a ridge of mountains change the founds of a whole language, of beings of the fame kind, is a moft fingular phenomenon to my manner of conceiving things. PRAY tell me, what account can be given for this, or whether any account can be given or no B Is it poflible, that the fouls of creatures, fo much alike in form, can be fo different in their fenfations, and the word odium in Latin, fignify the fame with that which is meant by hate in Englifh ? I F this fhould be received as a truth, it would make the writings of one nation, tho' the language be tranflated,. unintelligi- ble to another -, the ideas in each continuing different, tho' the words are truly changed for each other j thus, fo love in Englifh, is amare in our language, and to bate^ odiare j. and yet, if the fenfations which attend thefe words are as different as the founds, it muft be evident that the writers in thefe two dif- ferent tongues rouft be unintelligible to each other, LETTER LI. 2 ii other, according to the original meaning, tho'juftly tranlkted. Ttf$ word odiare y tranflated into this to hate, conveys to the Englishman's mind that idea which belongs to the Englifh word, and not to the Italian, and fo in the invcrfe : from this, if the difference of fenfation is equal to that of the found, thefe languages tranflated convey very different ideas from the writer's defign. SOMETHING like this is true, but there is not all the difference in the fenfe of thefe words, which there is in the founds. LET us fuppofe, that all the ideas of fen- fation, from paffion, and other interefting emotions, in the breafts of the inhabitants, are adually as different as the founds of each nation ; yet, this would only help us in that alone, and the objects of our fenfes, colours, odours, and others, would ftill remain in- folveable, by this manner. Surely, men do not fee things fo very different to make the fame object known by il bianco in one lan- guage, and 'white in another, as in Italian and Englim. P 2 THERE 212 L E T T E R LI. THERE is then fomething more than has yet been difcovered, which is the caufe of this variety of language, in nations feparated from one another by fuch little diviiions as rivers, or even a ridge of hills. PRAY tell me then, how to folve this dif- ficult phenomenon, and pleafe myfelf and others, who would gladly be acquainted with an explication of it. I am, Tour mofl obedient. LET- LETTER LIT. 213 LETTER LIT. To the Reverend Father FILIPPO BON IN i, at Rome. Dear SIR, WHATEVER my obfervations con- tribute to your pleafure, they an- fwer fomething more than I expect, and all that I deiire ; you feem pleafed with my laft, and wifh me to explain what I appealed to your judgment for a folution of: this is drawing water from a fcanty well, when whole rivers run before your gate. INDEED, I am yet at a lofs to fatisfy my- felf, whence it happens that brutes fpeak T ing univerfally the fame language intelligi- ble to one another, that men on this fide the channel, and on the other, fhould yet not underftand each others expreffions. A FRENCH cock is well underftood by an Englifh ; and the founds with which a hen calls her young, tho' uttered by a Spanifli P 3 hen, 214 LETTER LII. hen, would ftill be underflood by chickens hatched under an Englifh. AN Arabian barb, and an Englifh flallion, fpeak the fame language; their defiances and other founds are truly underflood by one the other, tho' the firfl was bred on the plains of Mecca, and the latter on the meadows of the filver Thames; the fame is true in the language of dogs, and other quadrupeds. FROM this one would be led to conceive, that brutes were better adapted to their ftate, than the beings of human kind, in this pro- vifion of a language univerfally underflood, and man not the favourite animal of its creator. THE reafon, Sir, of the univerfality of one, and the diversity of others, may be under- flood and perhaps find fome explanation, tho' the caufe may not ; that is, we may proba- bly fee the final caufe at leafl, tho' we never difcover the efficient. IT has been a long lamentation .amongft the learned, that all books of literature, and 4 fcience, LETT E R LII. 215 fcience, have not been written in one lan- guage, or, in other words, that there mould be more than one language fpoken in the world. THIS they imagine would have Shortened the way to knowledge, and render arts, fci- cnces and letters much fooner attained, and much farther extended, without the loft time of learning words, and their fignifica- tion 3 the application which is now given to one would have been deftined to the other, and acquiring knowledge taken place of ftu- dying founds. THIS feems extremely probable to a hafly view, which only looks on the coafts, and delineates the mores of learning, without tra- velling into the interior parts of it, to dif- cover the true nature of its foil, inhabitants, and productions. WILL not the very contrary of this ap- pear to be true ? and, confidering the nature of man, have not the different languages given rife to the revival and propagation o P 4 letters, 216 LETTER LIT. letters, in all countries where they have flourished. WHATEVER feems to be fecreted from the knowledge of man, is the purfuit which is followed with the utmoft avidity by the mind ; we love to penetrate beyond what is the common force of nature, and excell the reft of that fpecies of which we make part : this would not have fo much influenced where one language had been open to all. If we confider what are the effects of no- velty, that incentive would have been ex- tinguifhed, had knowledge been continued in one language, The ancient writings of the Greeks and Latins, at the revival of learn- ing, came with all the charrn of being new, becaufe they had been fo long unknown ; and even with a different joy, that of reve- rence for antiquity, which perhaps, in many inftances, has carried the character of men above that ftation which they poflefs in the realms of ParnafTus : a continuation of the fame language would probably have made all men flack in their purfuits, and obliterated the very traces of learning j fciences would 4 have LETTER LIT. 217 have burnt out like a taper, and have been no more relumined. WHEREAS the defire of knowing fome- thing which others do not, pumes men to the acquiring language, and the knowledge which it contains ; and the long lying un- known, imparts a delight to the re-appear- ance, like the budding trees, and flowery ve- getables in fpring, after a long winter. THO' this mould not pleafe you, which I have already faid, methinks this may obtain a better fate, which I am about to fay -, It is, that difcoveries, in whatever language they are written, are underftood perhaps by thou^ fands, and perhaps not by one in a thoufand; it is fcarce poflible to know, whether an au- thor be truly understood by a reader, unlefs he can proceed one ftep farther than the writer ; if he does not accomplish this, how can we be fure he has gone the whole length, or underflood all that which is al- ready written ? MEN who have conceived new thoughts, and been born with real genius, would have been 218 LETTER LII. been excellent tho' no one had written be- fore them -, and difcoveries of any kind can have been but little advanced by thofe who have gone wrong, unlefs it may be in keep- ing fucceeding authors from treading the fame road. No author has a title to greater honor than he deferves, and the man who advances two fteps beyond what is eileem'd already extraordinary, merits the higheft praife, and national reward ; but this is not yet the fole reafon of variety of tongues being fpread over the globe j this diversity of language is yet a flronger boundary than mountains, feas, and rivers ; had one language been intelli- gible to all, the common people of the earth would have been alike, and the cufloms of other lands known to them, without read- ing, from common converfation, which are now for ever hid in obfcurity on the account of that deficiency. IF Englifh had been the univerfal lan- guage, for example, would the Pole and Bo- hemian have lived as flaves, and been fold like cattle with the land to a new lord ? they would LETTER LH. 219 would certainly have fought new kingdoms, and, being alike intelligible every where, have travelled the round world to fly flavery, becaufe their language would have ferved them equally as well in all parts, as in their native land. Methinks one uniformity of cuftoms would have been the inevitable con- fequence of one language, univerfally under- flood. BUT as it is, the different languages are almoft an invincible bar to the poor people, who would defert their native country ; they have no power of explaining what they would have, or do, and are confequently held at home, in fpite of all inclination to be free ; the difficulty is too great to be at- tempted, in their prefent embarrafTment. A GENERAL language would make peo-r pie. travel into another kingdom, as little re- luctant, as at prefent they do into another province of the fame realm j and national at- tachment would have been long loft, if one language had been fpoken by all the nations of the globe. 220 LETTER LIT. WHO then would have frozen beneath the north pole, or in the fnowy hills of Lapland, thro' a tedious night of fix months ? or parch- ed on the dry defart of Arabia, unftieltered from the fultry iky ? THREE parts of the globe had been a defart, had one language been univerfally fpoken, and others too crowded with inha- bitants. THIS feems to be a probability well founded in nature, when we fee how eafily men, who fpeak various languages, lofe their natural prejudice, and are difpofed to be in- different whether they breathe the air of England, Italy, or France j and with how little reluctance, great numbers of Germans leave their native lands for thofe of America, where they know that their native language is very readily fpoken, by former fettlers. THE cuftoms of France and England re- femble each other more and more every day, and more than any other two people in Eu- rope j as that language is more known by the Englim, than by other people, they have long LETTER LII. 221 long followed French cuftoms; and the French lince the introducing the ftudy of the language of this kingdom into Paris, are following the Englifh in their turn ; as thefc increafe, the people will become ftill more refembling, till the difference be fcarce per- ceptible, and all diftinclion loft, like the force of two oppofite currents becoming one by the prevalency of the ftrongeft, or blue and yellow falling into one uniform colour of green. It is impomble but that an univerfal language would have effected an univerfal famenefs of behaviour and cuftoms, long be- fore this, by the vaft intercourfe which the chriftian religion and commerce, have made amongft men. To this variety of tongues it is owing, that the Laplander thinks happinefs no where to be found, but on the other fide the arctic circle, and prefers his whale oil to the juice of the Burgundian grape ; and the Arabian dies unrepining, in a land which denies him even water, to flake that thirft which it creates} this is the boundary which pre- ferves the different climates of the earth in- habited, and fcatters the human being un- com- 222 LETTER LII. complaining, amidft funs, and fnows, on fands and mountains, infufferable to men brought forth in happier climes. THIS then, feems to be the great ufe, and final caufe of various language ; the world would have been made almofl in vain, if three parts had been left unpeopled, and con- tentment found no where in man, but in the few felected and paradifaic fpots of this vafl globe 5 eternal feuds and mifery to man had been the confequence, and mountains, rivers, feas, feparated kingdoms ineffectually. I HAVE probably tired you by this time, in this refearch. I am, Tour mojl obedient fervant* LET- LETTER LIU. 223 LETTER LIU. To the Marchionefs of * * * * * dtf Rome. MADAM, IT is not an eafy thing to refolve the quef- tion which you aik me; the ladies of England do and do not paint j that is, there are many who exclaim with great acrimony againft that villainous cuftom, whilft the rouge is blufhing on their cheeks 5 probably there are not three women in the kingdom who would openly avow it, as the ladies of Paris do without the leafl hefitation. From this prefent (hyncfs in the affair, it is only ufed as an art to help nature at a dead lift, after nocturnal riots, and the emotions of thofe gentle paffions, which attend a run of ill luck at cards 5 at which time the hufband is fure of having a double potion of her choiceft fpirit of gall, and her face a double quantity of enlivening red. THIS famion will probably gain ground in this kingdom, as that kind of life which makes it necefTary, is in a very thriving way, and a duchefs will very foon be diftinguimed by her complexion, as eafily as an inn-keep- er's wife, or by the coronet on her coach, till 224 LETTER LIII. till the face becomes one entire red, fpread- ing like the colour on the nectarine, and growing higher by more funmine and time; or like the light of the moon beginning on one edge, extend till it covers the whole orb. THE ladies of England do not underftand the art of decorating their perfons, fo well as thofe of Italy ; they generally increafe the vo- lume of the head by a cap, which makes it much bigger than nature, a fault which mould be always avoided in adorning that part. FEMALES as fquare at the moulders as the flatue of the Farnefian Hercules, not long fince covered the whole bofom, with a great white handkerchief fpreading over the moul- ders, which gave that part the air of a new kettle-drum ; and this becaufe a celebrated beauty, tall and (lender, appeared well in it, and gave it the name of a vandyke : we fre- quently fee the hoop which is too big for a lady of fix foot high, tied on about the wafte f a woman of four ; by which means me has reduced the diameter to be twice as long as the perpendicular height, and all propor- tion deflroyed j a full dreft woman takes up as much breadth as is to be found in many ilreets, LETTER LIIL 2$ Erects, and will with difficulty pafs through the old triumphal arch of Titiis, without brushing the (ides. THEY wear their petticoats too fliort be- hind, and not imitating the moft graceful birds, as the ladies of Italy and France, in a trail of their robes upon the ground, lofe the greateft grace which drefs can impart to a female. NOTHING is fo various as the habits of Englifh ladies and gentlemen ; the waxing, waning moon, is no fimile for their chang- ing ; they not only vary the colours and de- figns of their filks and velvets, as the French do every year, but the garb is cut different in every month, from the great to the little cap, from the long to the mort fleeve, fo that the head mail be loft this month in a cloud of white linnen, and the next as bare as the fhorn pate of a capuchin j in like manner the hair itfelf, from the antique plat, which gives grace to the head-drefs, when the hair is abundant, and looks like rats tail* when in fmall quantity,, to the loofe ringlet which adorns the fwan- white neck, or the crept locks which look like a horfc's main newly cut, or a hedge-hog in wrath, are II, Q never 226 LETTER LIII. never adapted to the heads which fliould wear them. IN truth, not beauty but novelty governs in London, not tafte but copy 5 a celebrated woman of five foot fix inches gives law to the drefs of thofe who are but four foot two; and a {lender fhape and eafy air afTigns the fize of the flays for the fatteft women in the kingdom. THUS, nothing is fo common, as to hear the ladies of this nation aflure you, that fuch a fhape is quite out of fafhion, and the pre- fent reigning mode is the flender or large $ as if the creative power, like the hands of man- tua-makers, had cut the human perfon by a new pattern, and thrown away the old ; or mended its hand by practice. OWING to this love of novelty it is, that if a lady of noted beauty in her face has a large wafte, every woman in fix days is imi- tating her where fhe can : tho* the features be the great charm, the (hape is only imita- ble by art, and a lady of a fpan girt is ilarv- ing with cold, in ftays that you can hardly grafp with one arm, loft like a dwarf in a giant's LETTER UII. 227 giant's coat of mail : in like manner, if a beauteous face be attended with a very flen- der fhape, every plump woman in town muft be reduced in her fize, and preft into a machine of whalebone fo tight, that like flies, they appear to be fcarce joined in the middle, they wriggle and twill like a loaded horfe with a galled back, and, martyrs to the mode, curfing it internally, perfift in dia- chylon plafter and tight flays. THIS is not the cafe in Italy and France ; the ladies know that the grace which attends plumpnefs, is unbecoming the ilender ; and the tall lady never affects to look like a fairy, nor the dwarf like the giantefs, but each ftudying the air and mein which become her figure, appears in the moft engaging drefs that can be made, to fet off her perfon to the greatefl advantage. THE fack, which gives the greateft grace to the female fhape, is almoft out of famion in England ; they are returned to the old Gothic way of many breaks and divifions 5 whereas, the head neatly dreft with a rib- band, and the robe flowing from the {boul- ders on the ground behind, gives a regular Q 2 . pyramidal LETTER L1II. pyramidal air, the moft ornamental that a whole human figure can take, that is dreft, and chofen by painters as much as poffible. I HAVE often imagined, that a lady in her drefs ihould referable a bird, and the gen- teeleft woman imitate a peacock, the finefl of all birds, letting her robes end in a long train behind > whilfl the head might be de- corated with fome little kind of coronet like that animal j for in truth, feathers are cloaths, and the great grace of this bird confifts in its plumage. BUT as there are amongft women, as a- mongft feathered animals, all kinds of (hapes; fo every lady fhould fludy her refemblance, in that genus of creatures which flie refem- bles; and tho' you, madam, ought to imi- tate the pea-hen, and be the queen of the creation, yet other ladies, accommodating themfelves to their fimilar forms, might refemble the duck, goofe, pullet, or turkey ; and thus be fomething, in their habits, like thofe animals which are dreft by nature* FROM how much ridicule would a regu- lation in thefe things preferve the women of this LETTER LIIL- 229 this country ! at prefent you fee the lady who is gracefully formed like the pea-hen, walk- ing in the public gardens with the bob-tail, of the duck, and the goofe-like dame wad- dling with the unnatural long train, which follows fo gracefully behind the majeftic march of the peacock. THIS is yet a further proof, that the fenfe of beauty is not the prevailing tafte of the Englifh ; if it was, fuch unbecoming and fhifting fafhions could never take place . a- mongft them j their milliners drefs them like no creatures of God's creation ; and after having tarried two months in fome little country-town, and exercifed their invention in making caps, ruffles, and mantlets ; they all return to London piping hot, and, amu- ilng their cuftomers with a Paris-voyage, chriften this cap with the name of Pompa- dour ; that handkerchief, Orleans j this mantlet, Conti, or any great name j fome- times they borrow words from the religious orders, and call them Capuchins or Cordiliers, and thus fpread univcrfal difgrace on the tafte of France, which has never beheld fuch fright- ful drefles fince the days of Hugh Capet. Q 3 HAPPY 230 LETTER LIU. HAPPY* woman that gets the firft cap of a new cut, and proves, that the imitators in drefs, like thole in poetry, have more fervi- lity than genius, and are ignorant of their own proper force. SUPPOSE, Madam, I get a fubfcription from the ladies of this nation, to fend an ambafladrefs to implore your prefence in thefe realms, to prefide over the govern- in fafhions. You may be ftiled the fecretary of modes and graces, and have as much honor, and as. many places to beflow on your favourites, as a fecretary of ftate, all to females. I aril convinced you would bring your divifion in. adminiftration to greater exacftnefs than it is in the government, and not running in debt, reduce yourfelf to the patching an old coat with a new piece, becaufe you have not money enough to buy a new one* IT is as certainly true in governments and nations, as in old cloaths and new wine, that the firft is fpoiled by patching, and the latter loft by being too foon fhut up : The fkft fpeaks the fyflem of leaving things un- attended LETTER LIIL 231 attended to fo long, that they can fcarce be repaired by a new piece of expedient, and the precipitation of corking up fchemes be- fore they have fufficiently fermented, is fig- nified by the latter - y by which it comes to pafs, that the poor old coat of England is become more rent by thefe new pieces ; and the money fuddenly raifed, as fuddenly dif* fipated by ineffectual explofions in the appli- cation. PRAY, Madam, forgive this manner of .rimming my letter in politics, which differs from its firft fetting out as much as the dif- fertation written by a Bifhop of Ireland on tar-water, which beginning with tar, ends, I think, with predeftination, or fomething as far from the original ; yet he calls it a chain of reafoning, I am, Madam, Tour moft obedient fervant. LE1 LETTER LIV. LETTER LIV. To the Countefs of * * * * at Rome. MADAM, AM O N G S T the many works of lite- rature, in which this nation and the French are rivals ; that of theatrical enter- tainments has been as much controverted as any whatever : each in its turn has aflerted the fuperiority of its writers above the other. . SHAKESPEARE by the'Englifh, and Cor- neille by the French, are cited as proofs of the fuperiority of Englifh and French genius, and each advocate equally hardy fuftains the glory of his nation. YET, Madam, after as candid and impar- tial a difquifition of that which conftitutes genius, as I am capable of making, I frankly confefs, to me it appears, that Shakefpeare w#s the, more exalted being, in all that con- iVitutes true fuperiority of foul. Regularity of plan, in dramatic performances, is the work of art j conception of character, and their fupport through a whole theatric piece, the child of genius. Many men, nay all the LETTER LIV. 233 the French writers in tragedy, have reduced their productions for the ftage, to the -rules of the drama ; yet, how few of them, or of any nation, have exalted and finimed the ideas of perfonage in their pieces, to any de- gree of fublimity and perfection. FROM this difference we muft neceflarily conclude, that the power of conceiving and preferving juft characters in writing, is more rarely found, than that of planning a play; rules can teach one, which can effectuate nothing in the other; and many men may de- fign, what not one in a million can execute. FROM this, muft it not be concluded, that if Shakefpeare exceeded tfie French writers in conceiving, and juftly fuftaining. characters in tragedy, that, he was of a fuperior genius to the greateft of the French nation ? bsjv THIS, Madam, you, who underftand both languages, fhall decide; permit me, however, to point out fuch characters as have never been conceived by any French tragic writer, conducted and fuftained in a manner which no other nation has ever feen, ancient or modern. IN 234 LETTER LIV. IN the tragedy of Othello, the Moor all artlefs, open, and brave, is feduced by the wiles and fubtilty of the hypocritic Jago. THE feeming Simplicity of anhoneft heart is fo exquifitely fupported, and practifed by him on the unfufpecting difpofition of a vir- tuous, valiant, and ingenuous mind, that no inflance is to be produced of any thing pa- rallel in any theatrical production. IN each of thefc characters there is not one miftaken deviation ; every fpectator excufes the Moor in his being deceived, and pities with fmcereft forrow the fate of open ho- nefiy, feduced by artifice and wiles. THE difficulty is not eafily imagined, which attends the prefervation of thefe two characters. The Moor muft be fupported as brave, fenfible, and honeft ; the fkill lay in preferving all thefe from the imputation of weaknefs in Othello, thro' the conducting the impolition which was to be play'd upon him, The fimple, plain, and feemingly artlefs cunning of Jago, was attended with no lefc difficulty 5 LETTER LIV. 235 difficulty j to preferve the feparate characte- fifties of this perfonage, without deviating into one inftance, which might betray his deflgn to a man of fenfe, is of all things the moft difficult. YET, thro* the whole conduct of both cha- racters, there appears no one violation of the intended and original defign of the poet. IN this conflftency of character, the fupe- riority of the Englifh poet appears above all others, unlefs the critics devoted to the Greek a and antiquity, mould conteft it in favour of Homer j you, madam, will allow, that the great Corneille affords no inftance of this na- ture, comparable to the Englifh author. His management of Caffio, and Roderigo, is in the fame fimple, natural, and apparent honeft ftrain ; we fee that the deceit muft be invifible to fuch men. The fcene in the third act, between Othello and Jago, where the latter firft infinuates the idea of jealoufy into the mind of the Moor, that timidity of accufing the innocent, that regard for the reputation of Defdemona, with the infinua- tioa 236 LETTER LIV. tkm againft her fidelity, are fo artfully mixt, that it is impoffible, but that Othello muft have been infnared by his manner of con- duting the converfation ; how inimitable is his pretended love for Othello, his conjuring up the Moor's refolution to know his fenti- rnents, by diftant hints and fuggeftions, and when Othello breaks out, I'll know thy thoughts, he answers, You cannot, if my heart were in your hand ; Nor fhall not, whilft 'tis in my cuftody. At this feemingly determined fecrecy, the Moor pronouncing tl ha I" Jago with all pof- fible art cries out, Oh! beware my lord, ofjealoufy; It isa green-eyed monfter, which doth mock The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in blifs Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger : But oh ! what damned minutes tells he o'er Who doats yet doubts^ fufpedls yet ftrongly loves ? THIS LETTER LIV. 237 THIS fpeech of refined art, neceflarily turns the thoughts of Othello on the idea of jealouiy, with all the appearance of nature j and then by proceeding in the fame manner, he leads him to examine the conduct of Defdemona, and creates a fufpicion of her infidelity to the Moor, from her having chofen him, and refufed thofe Of her own clime, complexion, and degree, FROM this he draws an inference which reflects on the character of Defdemona 3 this aimoft convinces the Moor of her being falfe to his bed, and he defires Jago to fet his wife to watch Defdemona. In anfwer to this, the fubtle villain pretends to intreat Othello to think no more of what he had told him, to attempt difcovering Defdemo- na's true difpolition, by the vehemence of her fuit to him for reftoring Caffio, and to believe his fears for his honour had been too importunate in the affair ; with this he leaves him. In all this fcene there appears nothing which can difcover the Moor weaker than an honeft, plain, brave man may be allowed to be ; not one ftep carried beyond the truth in nature, by Jago. 5 THE 2 3 3 LETTER LIV. THE knowledge of the promptnefs of jea- loufy in the bofom of man, which the au- thor ihews in the character of Jago, is be- yond all comparifon ; when he has poflefl the handkerchief which Defdemona drops, he fays, I will in Caffio's lodgings lofe this napkin, And let him find it. Trifles light as air Are to the jealous confirmations flrong As proofs of holy writ. This may do fomething. The Moor already changes with my poi- fons: Dangerous conceits are in their nature poi- fons, Which at the firft are fcarce found to dif- tafte; But, with a little aft upon the blood, Burn like the mines of fulphur. At feeing Othello enter, he continues 5 Look where he comes! not poppy nor mandragora, Nor all the drowfy fyrups of the world, Shall ever medicine thee to that fweet deep Which thou hadft yeflerday. 2 THE LETTER LIV. 239 THE operations which the jealous mind undergoes, were never fo truly described by any author ; the trifles light as air, the tafte- lefs poifon of a hint becoming mines of burn- ing fblphur to the foul, and the irrevocable power of fweet Dumber to a mind haunted with jealoufy, are beyond all conception juft, great and fublime, and I think to be found in no other author. THE Moor enters with a conviction of the truth of what Jago ha'd faid in the above foli- loquy j his mind now burning with fufpicion, lighted up from thofe fparks which Jago had thrown upon it, without feeing him, he fays, Ha ! falfe to me. to which Jago replies, Why, how now, general? no more of that, Oth. Avant ! begone ! thou'ft fet me on the rack. I fwear 'tis better to be much abufed Than but to know a little. THIS anfwer (hews that the revealing this infidelity of Defdemona, had made Jago in- fufferable to his eyes ; the combat between the violation of his bed, and the love of Def- demona, LETTER LIV, ' demona, working ftrongly in him, he there- fore fwears 'tis better to be much abufed in fecret, than not to know what may be avow* ed to be fufficient for vindicating the ven- geance which an injured man fhould take upon the author of his difhonour. At this Jago, fearing left he fliould retreat from the degree to which he had brought him, delay the purfuit, and relapfe to love, cries How, my lord ! Othello anfwers, What fenfe had I of her ftol'n hoars of luft ? [not me ; I faw it not, thought it not, it harm'd I flept the next night well ; was free and merry : I found not Caffio's kifTes on her lips : He that is robb'd, not wanting what is ftol'n, [at all. Let him not know't, and he's not r6bb'd IN this fpeech, the whole bent of his mind is turned on the mifchief and difquiet which Jago r s difcovery had brought upon his foul ; without his revealing it he had been happy, untouched by pangs of injury. Jago's an- fwer is, 1 LET f - E R LIV. 241 I am forry to hear this. Othello proceeds ftill in th$ farne fentirnent, extlaimmg. I had been happy if the general camp (Pioneers and all) had tafted her fweet body, So I had nothing known. Oh now, for ever [tent ; Farewell the tranquil mind ! farewell con- Farewell the plumed troops, and the big war, That make ambition- virtue ! Oh ! farewell, Farewell the neighing fteed, and the {hrill trump, [fife, The fpirit-ftirring drum, th' ear-piercing Ttye royal banner, and all quality, . [war. Pride, pomp, and circumfknce of glorious And oh ! you mortal engines, whofe rude throats [terfejty Th' immortal Jove's dread clamours couh- Farewell ! Othello's occupation's gone ! THESE reflections bring back on his foul, like the returning tide, the wretched change of fituaticn which Jago's d ifcovery had pro- duced in him j upon which J'ago afl:s, Is't poffible, my Lord ? VOL. II. R OTHELL0 3 * 242 LETTER LIV. OTHELLO, ftill improving the former fen- timent, and feeling his fallen ftate with infi- nite fenfibility, flies impetuoufly into rage,, and feizing jago> cries, Villain, be fure thou prove my love a whore"; Be fure of it ; give me the ocular proof; Or, by the worth of mine eternal foul, Thou hadft been better have been born a dog Than anfwer my wak'd wrath. When proceeding in the fame paffionate manner, Jago anfwers, Oh grace ! oh heaven defend me f Are you a man ? have you a foul ? of fenfe ? God be wi' you ; take mine office. O wretched fool, That liv'ft to make thine honefty a vice ! Oh monftrous world ! take note, take note, oh world ! To be direct and honefl is not fafe. [hence I thank you for this profit; and from I'll love no friend, fith love breeds fuch offence. THIS LETTER LIV, 243 THIS fpeech contains as much art, as ever entered into th conception of human nature. He firft appeals to Orhello's humanity and underftanding ; then at that inftant, as in- tending to leave him, he fays, " God be il wi* you/' and throws up his commiffibn j he then exclaims at his own folly that has thus converted his honefty into vice ; when throwing a fareaftic reflexion on the world, and thanking Othello for this information of what Is to be expected from man, he deter- mines to renounce all love for human nature* What ideas are there to be imagined, which can be thrown together with more judgment, and propriety, to reclaim Othello from that outrage which he has committed ? IT has its proper effect ; the mind of man, ftrongly agitated between two paffions, fud- denly veers from one to the other, like the uncertain blowings of a ftormj in confe- quence of which, Othello comes* about tor Relieve that Jago is honeft, and fays, Nay ftay thou {hould'ft be honeft. Jago, who perceives this approaching change^ anfwers, I fhould be wife, for honefty's a fool, And lofes what it works for. R 2 After 244 LET T E R L1V. After this, Othello, reduced to the aequi- poife between the love of his Defdemona,- and the truth of Jago's ftory, cries out, By the world, I think my wife is honeft, and think (he is not : [art not. I think that thou art juft, and think thoo I'll have fome proof. r .this fufpenfe Jago feizes, to fix him in the firm opinion of her being falfe to his bed ; when Othello fays, Give me a living reafon (he's diftoyal. At this Jago recounts what Caffio faid in a dream, and wins upon the mind of the Moor entirely -, at which he cries, I'll tear her all to pieces Jago, not content with this, moft artfully mentions to him the handkerchief in the hands of Caffio, which he had formerly given to Defdemona : this rivets him in the belief of his being dimonoured by Caffio j at which he exclaims, Oh that the flave had forty thoufand lives! One is too poor, too weak for my re- venge. Now LETTER LIV. 245 Now do I fee 'tis true. Look here, Jago, All my fond love thus do I blow to heaven, 'Tis gone [hell ! Arife black vengeance from the hollow Yield up, oh love ! thy crown and hearted throne [fraught, To tyrannous heat ! fwell bofom, with thy For 'tis of Afpic's tongues. Jag. Yet be content. Oth. Oh blood, blood, blood ! Jag. Patience, I fayj your mind perhaps may change. Oth. Never, Jago. Like to the Pontic fea, Whofe icy current and compulfive courfe Ne'er feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on To the Propontic and the Hellefpont - y Even fo my bloody thoughts with violent pace [ble love, Shall ne'er look back, ne'er ebb to hum- Till that a capable and wide revenge Swallow them up. -Now by yonder marble heaven, In the due reverence of a facred vow, I here engage my words. Having thus wrought him up to his pur- pofe, Jago fwears that he will give himfelf R 3 up 24 6 LETTER LIV. up entirely to the fervice and revenge of Othello's injury. IN thefe laft quotations it is eafy to fee, that figurative exprerfions, when they arife from the fubje.ct, unforced, and unfought af- ter, are the moft naturally expreffive of paf- fion; the mind, dilated and carried on by the defire of revenge, rifes ipto metaphor and fimiie, with the utmoft propriety ; the occaiion is equal to the conception and ideas, and not the leaft colour of bombaft, or falfe gxpreffton, appears thro' the vyhole. IN all the French theatre I know of no play, in which equal knowledge in human nature is manifefled, where two characters fojuflly drawn, fo nicely contrafted, and fo well fullained, are to be found $ a common genius would have erred a thoufand times Jn writing fuch parts j Othello would have mariifefled a thoufand marks of being a fool, jn not feeing Jago's ckfigns; and Jago be- trayed himfelf by too bare faced a conduct bf his intention : as it is managed by Shake- fjpcare, there is no one flip or deviation of ^character in either, in one fingle inftance. ANOTHER LETTER LIV. 247 ANOTHER letter, Madam, may probably bring you farther thoughts on this play $ let me here remark however, that great geniufes being difficultly imitated, Shakefpeare has been the caufe of two vaft miftakes, in the fucceeding authors of this nation. THE firft is, that they have copied his di- verflty of fcenery, and not pofleued the power of conceiving or fuftaining their cha- racters as they ought ; for this reafon, the plays which appear alert, active, and enter- taining to the eye on the ftage, by dint of ftage-trick, and win fome applaufe in the firft prefentations, are damned in the clofet, and never more revived on the theatre. THE other is, the admiration of that figu- rative ftyle in Shakefpeare, fo natural, be- coming, and juft, as he ufes it, failed with ideas anfwering the words. This has crea- ted a manner of writing, connfting entirely of verbage without imagery to fuftain it, cold, altifonant, gigantefque, fhadowy, inane, and puerile. R 4 THIS, 248 LETTER LAY. THIS, Madairij tho' I fear it may appear to have the air of dictating, believe me, hats nothing of that in its intent. Permit me then, the honor to know whether you con- firm me in this opinion ? Whether I ought to deem myfelf a judge in matters of genius, when I place the author of this tragedy a- bove any writer which the French, or any nation, has hitherto produced : your opinion ^vlll determine me. I am, four ipoft obedient fervant. LET- LETTER LV. 249 LETTER LV. To the Reverend Father ALLESSANDRQ ADIMARI, at Ronnie. Dear SIR, AMONGST the nations of the earth, how few have yet pofTeft men of true tafte and fuperior genius ! and even a- mongft thofe, where the human foul has reached that degree which is fo much be- yond the common race of mortals, how fmall is that number in comparifon of the whole inhabitants ! A VERULAM, or Newton, are but two of millions, which breathed the fame Britim air with them at different periods ; thefe have bequeathed the character of fcience and ge- nius to a whole nation, for ages to come ; perhaps for all duration ; and many millions of Britons draw honor, efteem, and reputa- tion from the nations around, from what has been the conceptions of thefe two en- lightened men, Te 250 L E T T E R LV. To thefe and fome others it is owing, that the Englifhman meets a polite and honorable reception in every court in Europe ; not to the battels of Marlborough, Edward the black prince, or Harry the fifth, who have each conquered the French nation in arms j but to thefe men, who with Milton, Shake- fpeare, and other eminent writers, have car- ried the point of genius beyond the wits of the Gallic nation. ALL kingdoms have in their turn produ- ced men of capacity in military affairs, from the northern Goth, to the fandy plains of Mauritania, perhaps in every nation upon the globe 5 yet, few have hitherto been favoured with men of great literary genius. WHEN we recollect alfo, that many things may conduce to eflablifh the reputation of a general, which can never enter into that of men who ftudy letters ; the reafon will ap- pear yet plainer, why there are more gene- rals who have acquired fame by arms, than jnen who have obtain'd it by writing, THE fuccefs of a commander depends greatly on the accidents which attend the day L E T T E R LV. 251 day of battle, which he could never forefee, nd from which bis own fagacity drew no advantage at the moment of their happen- ing. The troops which a general commands contribute greatly to the fame he mufl ob- tain, and the officers who are employed un- der him again, much more. A GENERAL may rife to the higheft re- putation, by being engaged againft men of little military genius in the enemy's army ; and (without defign to leilen the duke of Marl borough's renown) it does not feem un- reafonable to imagine, that his engaging a- gainft commanders who were of an inferior genius to thofe who preceded in the war againft king William, facilitated the way, and conduced much to his acquiring that glory which attended him in all his actions : is it not probable that Luxembourg would have made the conqueft at Blenheim more difficult and dear, than Tallard and Martin ? And even Villars, who had fucceeded on that fpot the preceding year, would he have committed the egregious miftakes which were difcovered by many officers in the French army, the evening before the battle ? WOULD 252 L E T T E R LV. . WOULD Turenne havedifpofed his troops in the fame manner at Kami Hies, as they were drawn up by Villeroi ? And would not better- planned difpofitions, and fuperior judgr ments, tho' they might not have abfolutely difconcerted the duke of Marlborough's ex- tenflve capacity in military affairs, have in- terrupted or lefTened the rapidity of that tide of glory, which always bore him fo fwiftly on to fame. I DO not fay this with defign to diminish the English hero's renown ; but to fhew, that fame in military affairs may depend much on the inequality of capacity and talents of thofe who oppofe each other. WHOEVER of two generals, tho' both men of weak or inferior intellects, prevails in bat- tle, he is honored and confidered as a moft eminent and great foldier ; fuccefs gives him this reputation, when probably a man of true capacity, who faw his weaknefs, would have vanquifhed him with very little difficulty. It is not then, in military matters, the fupe- riority of genius alone which communicates im- LETTER, LV. 253 immortality ; but frequently the miftakes, weaknefs and confufion of his antagonifl, \vhich place the crown of laurel on the con- queror's head. HAD the duke de Gramont purfued the orders of Marflial Noailles at Dettingen, would the victory have fallen to the Britiih king, who was prefent at the battle ? A THOUSAND accidents unforefeen by the conqueror, fudden pannics, the unequal oppofition of inferior genius in the other ge- neral, a florin of rain in the enemies face, or even the dazzle of the fun-mine, may give conqueft and immortal fame to a general ; neither of which can affift in creating that permanent glory which attends the works of men of the moft exalted genius in literary productions. THE Greek and Latin clafllcs draw no advantage from accident; their writings (land naked and unaffifted by all the incidents which generally communicate fuccefs to mi- litary achievements ; their works are criti- cized and examined in the cool hour of the (hade. $54 L E T T E R LV. fhade, as they exiil in themfelvcs j hiftorian is compared with hiftorian, according to his true and genuine powers of genius and ca- pacity : Thucydides and Livy are viewed and examined, as each exceeds or falls be- low the other, in all thofe requisites which are neceflary to form an eminent author in that kind of writing : poet in like manner with poet, of the fame kind of compofi- tion j Homer, Virgil, Taffo, and Milton ; in each of thefe it may be truly diltinguifh- ed, how much the fucceeding are obliged to their predeceflbrs, what helps and affifl- ance they may have borrowed, and their true merit decided and efiablimed. Chance then efFedls nothing in advancing the repu- tation of writers j I mean that reputation which outlives the author, unfuftained by the falfe tafte of men of high rank, the zeal of friends and party, or the whirling whim of fafhion, that for a moment bears him to the top of the wheel. MEN of letters then are tried at a feverer tribunal than men of arms 5 their merit is fixed on more eftablifhed principles, and a better foundation > and yet^fuch is the event, the L E T T E R LV. 255 the eclat of fire and fword, ruined nations* kings enflaved, and flaughtered millions, are more the admiration of mankind, than the man of fludy who advances arts and fciences, happinefs and health, a public bleffing. THERE is fcarce a more depreciating con- fideration to human nature, than that the mild arts of peace mould meet fuch little fuccefs, and the profeffors of ilaughter and destruction, find applaufe and honorable re- ception every where : this difpofition feems to be inherent in the nature of man. FOR myfelf I confefs, when I behold tho monuments and tombs of thofe ravagers, with pompous panegyrics of their military actions, I conceive the greateft abhorrence at their names and characters 5 I can never cfteem that being, whofe malicious heart prompts his understanding and his arm by the worfl of paflions, to the destruction of his own fpecies j he is to my eyes only a robber, more illuStrious and pernicious than the common highwayman > and tho' the world have agreed to honor fuch men, with all that is to be given in it 5 yet to me, every 5 monu- 256 LETTER LV. monument which preferves the memory of thefe kind of beings, is but a (landing fatyr again ft the perfons who performed the ac- tions they recount, thofe who have bellowed on them thefe fuperb acknowledgments, all who look on, read and applaud, and perhaps human nature itfelf. WHAT is a long lift of victories, but 'rf keen invective on human nature ? What are the hiftories of thoufands flain, but a demon- Miration of our delight ; in blood ihed ? cities ruined, nations plundered, temples and dei- ties prophaned, are the glories of that being which boafts of humanity, and calls itfelf the lord of the creation. IF riches crown the event, all terminates well, the author is juftified ; the barrier of gold is the facred imparTable defence, behind which the violator is fecure from all attacks, unlefs his confcience fometimes difquiet his enjoyments, and touch that heart with remorfe for its poffeflbr, which it never felt for others, in the bloody hour of de- ilruction. I HAVE LETTER LV. 257 I have wander'd from my firft defign ; but fuch as it is, pray take it j and if it be not characterise of the Englifh alone, it is more general, and becomes a remark which may be made on all the nations of the earth, where learning has flourimed, that thofe, who fave, delight, and inftruft, are infinitely lefs honored than thofe who terrify, corrupt, and deftroy. I am, Tour moft obedient. VOL. II. S LET* 258 LETTER LVI. LETTER LVI. 70 the Reverend Father F A B i o M A R E T T i, at Rome. Dear SIR, NOTHING is moredifputed amongfl thofe who pretend to be judges of what pafles in letters and arts, than the ideas of tafte : each Englim traveller, who has feen the fouth-fide of the Alps, would ima- gine himfelf affronted, if you do not allow him an excellent connoifleur in architecture, painting, and ftatuary j and all this from pure prefumption of having pad his eyes over jnuch of the moil exquifite of thefe pro- ductions. IF one confiders the qualifications requi- iite for 'fuch decisions, I fanfy that part of the world which has never travelled beyond the limits of Great Britain, will not be wil- ling to allow thefe travellers all the fupe- riority which they claim ; and tho* they may agree, that in many difeafes breathing air impregnated with fpicy exhalations, may facilitate LETTER LVI. 259 facilitate the health of the fick ; yet in walk- ing amongft the works of the Grecian fculp- tors, Roman and other Italian painters, the effluvia are fcarce ftrong enough to create fo great an alteration in the knowledge of thefe things, as from ignorance to Ikill and diftin&on. How few of thofe men of tafte who have travelled Italy, have ever ftudied the human body ; it is cloathed and concealed, and al- moft impomble in the common ways of life to be feen frequently and with attention ; not- withftanding this, in every painting and piece of fculpture, they fet themfelves forth as juft judges of every human figure, which can never be obtained but from the thorough confideration of many living bodies. BUT to wave all examination of the power of judging of thofe things which are known by comparifon, and where the originals are concealed from proper infpection ; let us fee how much thefe travellers have improved the tafte of this nation, by their perigrinations : in architecture, Inigo Jones, and Sir Chrif- topher Wren have been excellent, the firft S 2 equal i6o LETTER LVL equal perhaps to any man amongft the whole lift of thefe artifts ; and perhaps at that time the four greateft men in the world in point of genius were natives of and refided in this ifland, Verulam, Shakefpeare, Hervey, and Jones ; and had not the too northern mo- narch, who then fat on the Britifh throne, damped the,genius of the Englim nation by his theological difputes, quaint expreffions, frigid conceptions, and frivolous conceits; the fire of that celeftial influence had reached yet farther. IT was then, genius feems to have been moft prevalent in this ifle, from which time it has declined, and that tafte which was its companion, is loft entirely. COULD you leave the Italian ihores, and viiit this kingdom, you would be enraptured at beholding the banqueting-houfe of White- hall; a more perfect building in true fubli- imity of tafte, is to be feen no where. WHEN turning round, you would behold with indignation, that which is lately built for the horfe-guards of the Britim king, won* LETTER LVI. 2 6r wondering how it was poffible that any man in fight of all that is perfect and charadle- rifiic, could eredl that which is unmeaning, ungraceful and ridiculous; without ftrength. or any one idea of intention, made up of lit- tleneffes : the turret which is in the center, is fo very heavy, and the building fo' very light that fuftains it, you expect every mo- ment to fee it drop into the middle thro* want of powers to fupport it. THE fimple and fublime have loft all in- fluence almoft every where, all is Chinefe or Gothic; every chair in an apartment, the frames of glafTes, and tables, muft be Chi- nefe: the walls covered with Chinefe paper filled with figures which refemble nothing of God's creation, and which a prudent na- tion would prohibit for the fake of pregnant women. IN one chamber, all the pagods and dif- torted animals of the eaft are piled up, and called the beautiful decorations of a chim- ney-piece ; on the fides of the room, lions made of porcelain, grinning and misfhapen, S 3 are 262 LETTER LVI. are placed on 1 brackets of the Chinefe tafte, in arbors of flowers made in the fame ware, and leaves of brafs painted green, lying like lovers in the mades of old Ar- cadia. t NAY, fo exceffi ve is the love of Chinefe architecture become, that at prefent the fox- hunters would be forry to break a leg in purfuing their fport over a gate that was not made in the eaftern tafte of little bits of wood ftanding in all directions ; the connoifieurs of the table delicacies can dif- tinguim between the tafte of an ox which eats ;his hay from a Chinefe crib, a hog that is inclofed in a ftye of that kind, or a fowl fattened in a coop the fabric of which is in that defign, and find great difference in the flavour. THE Gothic too has its advocates j you' fee a hundred houfes built with porches in that tafte, fuch as are belonging to many chapels j even door-cafes and the fronts of fome dwellings, which might be drawn by one horfe like a chaife, are fitted up in this man- LETTER LVI. 263 manner; not to mention that rooms are fluccoed in this tafte, with all the minute un- meaning carvings, which arc iound in the moft Gothic chapels of a thoufand years Handing. SUCH is the prefent prevailing tafte in this city. BUT perhaps, whilft I am blaming this in the people of England, the fame thing may have prevailed at Rome ; at leaft I am afraid of it, if a fample of your whole prefent tafle may be taken from the fingers, which you furnim to this city. To my impolite ears, the airs which are fung at prefent have no longer the imitation of any thing which would exprefs paffion or fentiment, and the whole merit lyes in the Gothic and Chinefe clofes and cantabiles, frithered into niceties and divilions, which, like minute carvings, are the certain charac- teriftics of a little tafte, that delights more in difficulties than truth, that would rather fee apofture-mafter in all bodily diftortions, than the graceful attitudes of Dupre on the French S 4 theatre 264 LETTER LVI. theatre of the opera a Paris, in the moil ex- alted manner of dancing. THE Chinefe tafte is fo very prevalent in this city at prefent, that even pantomime has obliged harlequin to feek melter in an enter- tainment, where the fcenes and characters are all in the tafte of that nation. THERE is one part of Chinefe manners however, which is not yet put in practice in England ; the little fhoes which are contrived to cramp the feet, and confine the ladies to their houfes, do not yet prevail ; and I be- lieve that Hufbands have not power enough over their wives, to preach them into that fa- fhion, which would oblige them to be mere domeftic animals. IN truth, this tafte for littlenefles is advan- cing a great pace, in all the parts of the na- tional entertainments ; their theatrical pieces "in tragedy and comedy, have infinitely more variety of ftage trick than character, and ten new fcenes for one paffage of good writing ; in fact it is the eye which is written to, and not the underftanding j racks, wheels, and other LETT E R LVI. 265 other inftruments of death, together with a few kicks and flruggles at the moment of dying; like a cock turkey beating his wings when his neck is twitted, make up too much of the moving parts of an Englifh modern tragedy. I am, Tcur moft obedient fervant. LET. 266 LETTER LVII. LETTER LVII. 70 the Reverend Father F i L i p p o BON INI, at Rome. Dear SIR, IF the Italians were the firft improvers of gardens, and plantations, the French have excelled us, and the Englifti carried the tafte of that embellifhment much higher, than it has appeared either in our country, Or in France. THEY have excluded that regularity of plan which makes the defign of all gardens in every other part of Europe, and following thofe ideas which are characleriftic of fome feofation relating to human nature, have made a garden in England a fenfible confideration, and adapted it to all ftates which are inci- dent to human minds in general. THE gay and airy temper finds the open and chcarful fpots of light, which are accept- able to that difpofition, and the melancholy mood finds the folitary and ihady grove^ the LETTER LVIT. 267 the fide of which flovvly creeps along the brook, complaining foftly amongft the pebbles. IN the Englifh gardens there is infinite va- riety without regularity, agreeable to the face of nature that diverfifies all, and not accord- ing to the ancient and prefent tafte of France and Italy, which difpofes a garden like a hu- man creature, and carries the image of felf into all its defigns, with alleys anfwering alleys, like legs to legs, and arms to arms, and the great walk in the middle for the trunk of the body. A MANNER of difpofing things very na- tural to the mind of that man, which cannot diveft itfelf of fuch interefling ideas as felf, and yet very unnatural with refped: to that which thefe difpofitions ought to referable, THE jet d'eau is quite out of famion in this kingdom j the cafcade, and falling ftreams bubbling amongft rocks, the winding river without regularity of figure, or ftrait paral- lel lines, make the water-works of this country. 5 I" 268 LETTER LVil. IN truth, it is always unnatural to fee wa~ ter rifing into the air, contrary to its original tendency. THIS, however contrary it may be to pure tafte, I think in fome countries may be al- lowed of, fuch as in the fummer's days in our native land, when the faltry air is fanned by the motion of the water in the jets d'eau t and the refreshing fertfe of coolnefs imparted at once to the feeling, feeing, and hearing ; for the two laft fenfes have the ideas of cool- nefs imparted to them, by the fight and found of water. IN this ifland, where intenfe heat is fel- dom known, and when it happens is of mort duration, there does not feem to be the fame neceffity of violating the native propenfity of water, to obtain a greater pleafure by it, than can otherwife be had. Ho WEVER, this limplicity and grandeur of tafte in gardening, which has produced many fine plantations in this kind, is at prefent fu* fering with that of all other things,; the ca- racatura and minute are again prevailing in too many places. THE LETTER LVII. 269 THE citizen who vifits his rural retirement clofe to the road, thronged with coaches, carts, waggons, chaifes, and all kinds of car- riages, which differs from London only in this, that in winter it rains fmoke in the city, and in fummer duft in the country, muft have his plantation of an acre diverfi- fied with all that is to be found in the moft extenfive garden of fome thoufand acres; here muft be temples to every goddefs as well as Cloacina ; woods, waters, lawns, and ftatues, which being thus contrived to contain fo many things, is in fact nothing at all, and that which might be fomething by being but one, is entirely loft by being in- tended to be fo many ; one wonders how fo many things can be crammed into fo fmall a place, as we do at the whole furniture of a room in a cherry ftone ; it is a fcene for fairies. THIS is but the old tafte of fhaped flower- knots in box, cut yews, and dipt hedges, in another edition, which has no more tafte than the former. PERHAPS there is not a thing upon the face of the earth truer than the belief that tafte 270 LETTER LVII. tafte is the general pofTeffiqn of all men - t I mean every man affumes it to himfelf, tho' he denies it to his neighbour, by which it is at once univerfal in one view, and non-ex- iftent in another. THERE is however, fome analogy between man and all hisdefigns of this kind j the true tafte in gardens is formed on what we feel in ourfelves, at the fight of different fcenes in nature ; a garden without this meaning in its difpofition cannot pleafe long ; novelty, indeed, will beget fome delight in the be- ginning, but without fcenes which corre- fpond to all fituations of our minds, it foon becomes fiat and irkfome. To defign a garden well, the perfon muft ftudy the ground on which he intends to plant, the nature of thofe parts thro' which the water flows, ;md what ufe can be made of the woods already grown j from confide- rations of this kind, tafte may communicate characters to different parts, and adapt the whole to that variety of paflions and fen- fations, which diftinguim the human heart. THIS LETTER LVII. 271 THIS requires much imagination j it is not fufficient to remember what has been feen at any one place ; to follow that exactly would be impoffible, or if it could be done, the whole would be one piece of plagiarifm. THE art lies in felecting the moft ftriking objects, which have affected the mind with any kind of paffion or fenfation, and then by recalling thofe ideas, give a combination to thefe objects which has never yet been feen in nature, and yet which the eye of a judge will agree to be natural when put together. THIS, tho' it may feem a tafk of no great difficulty, is yet much more fo than may be at firft imagined ; for though many people remember what they have feen, yet very few in nature have the power of uniting the parts of various fubjects, fo as to make one whole that mall be finking, characteriftic and affecting* IT is in the combination of vifible objects, fo as that they may affect the mind with any paffion, pleafing or difpleafing fenfation, as it 272 LETTER LVII. it is in that of combining founds, which may affect us with fimilar feelings. IN the latter, the tones which accompany the expreffions of tendernefs, grief, rage, or other paffions, muft be diftinguifhed and combined, fo as to characterize an air either complaining, foft, or angry, which is much the fame kind of genius, with that of com- bining the objects of fight in light and made, open and obfcure, creating horror or delight, indulging love or forrow. As there are few muficians who have ex- celled in all parts of a grand competition, fo there are few who have fucceeded in the planning and defigning gardens. ONE mafter in mufic is excellent in com- pofing the firft violin of a concerto, and ineagre in all the reft ; others in their favou- rite inftruments with the like imperfections; Corelli andGeminiani fill all, and make the whole piece one fimple and united found of various inftruments, each fuftaining and fuftained. IN gardening alfo, one defigner plans the gay part, and fails in the ferious ; he trills 5 along LETTER LVII. 273 a long little flream with elegance and pro- priety, and brobdignags the expanfe of water and almoft makes a new deluge ; Kent, the beft defigner in this way, is the Corelli of gardeners, as may be feen wherever he has followed his own inclination, in the gardens he has defigned. ALAS ! the bane of men, of fine and ele- gant tafte, and the caufe of its fudden decline, is the belief in every rich man who has an inclination to build, or plant, that he has a tafte equal to his wealth, and to the under- taking, and a right to obtrude his opinion on the moft accomplished judge, in archi- tecture and gardening : this epiftle I fear is too much in the didactic flrain, when I re- collect to whom I am writing, to you whofe tafte in thefe arts is certainly juft and elegant, from what you have fliewn in poetry their fitter. I am, Tour moft obedient. Vo L. II. T L E T~ 274 L E T T E R LVIII. LETTER LVIII. To the Countefs 286 LETTER LIX. it, till at length when Goneril refutes him his hundred followers, and fays, Be then advifed by her, that elfe will take That which die begs, to leflen your at- tendance : Take half away, and fee that the remainder Be fuch as may befic your age, and know Themfelves and you. After thefe words of infolence, Lear replies, Darknefs and devils ! Saddle my horfes, call my train together. Degenerate viper, I'll not flay with thee : I yet have left a daughter Serpent, mon- fter! Leffen my train, and call them riotous ! All men approved of choice and rareil parts, That each particular of duty know How fmall, Cordelia, was thy fault? Oh Lear! Beat at that gate which let thy folly in, And thy dear judgment out; go, go, my people. THIS all other a than con- ceives with what words the characters in a flory painted by Dorpiniquino, Pouffin, or other eminent artifts, mould be animated j he can better aqjuft founds to poetical com- pofitipns, than invent .poetry for airs already made. THE mrnd of man then, which : is uricon* taminated in action and expreffion with the borrowed aid of mimickry, is real genius; and, if it was not unpolite in writing to a lady, I could end with a fyllogifm, that this aclor whom I have too imperfectly defcribed in this letter, is undoubtedly fo, and of a much fuperior nature to a mediocre- poet, in- deed, on a level with great painters, and great rnu'ficians, a Raphael or Corelli. J am Tour mojl obedient, fervant. F J N I S. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 47584 3 I I 4. i- 5: i ^ ^l-UBRARYOc, V 5ME-1'NIVER% VER% * f 55 1 $ ^ A 000006852 8 s ^f-UNIVER% i < ^ g '7^ n ^ cr