MORAL ESSAYS.

EPISTLE L

то

Sir RICHARD TEMPLE, L. COBHAM,

ARGUMENT.

Of the KNOWLEDGE and CHARACTERS of MEN.

I, THAT it is not fufficient for this knowledge to confider man in the abstract: books will not serve the purpose, nor yet our own experience fingly, ver. 1. General maxims, unless they be formed upon both, will be but notional, 10. Some peculiarity in every man, characteristic to himfelf, yet varying from himfelf, 15. Difficulties arifing from our own paffions, fancies, faculties, &c. 31. The fhortnefs of life to obferve it, and the uncertainty of the principles of action in men to observe by, 37, &c. Our own principle of action often hid from ourselves, 41. Some few characters plain, but in general confounded, diffembled, or inconfiftent, 51. The fame man utterly different in different places and seasons, 71. Unimaginable weakneffes in the greateft, 70, &c. Nothing conftant and certain but God and nature, 95. No judging of the motives from the actions; the fame actions proceeding

proceeding from contrary motives, and the fame motives influencing contrary actions, 100. II. Yet to form characters, we can only take the strongest actions of a man's life, and try to make them agree: The utter uncertainty of this, from nature itself, and from policy, 120. Cha`racters given according to the rank of men of the world, 135. And fome reafon for it, 140. Education alters the nature, or at least character, of many, 149. Actions, paflions, opinions, manners, humours or principles, all fubject to change. No judging by nature, from 158 to 178. III. It only remains to find (if we can) his RULING PASSION: that will certainly influence all the rest, and can reconcile the feeming or real inconfiftency of all his actions, 175. Inftanced in the extraordinary character of Clodip, 179. A caution against mistaking fecond qualities for first, which will deftroy all poffibility of the knowledge of mankind, 210. Examples of the ftrength of the ruling paffion, and its continuation to the laft breath, 222, &c.

EPISTLE

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Y

EPISTLE I

ES, you defpife the man to books confin'd,
Who from his ftudy rails at human kind;
Tho' what he learns he fpeaks, and may advance
Some gen❜ral maxims, or be right by chance.
The coxcomb bird, fo talkative and grave,

That from his cage cries cuckold, whore, and knave,
Tho' many a paffenger he rightly call,
You hold him no philofopher at all.

And yet the fate of all extremes is fuch,

Men may be read, as well as books, too much.
To obfervations which ourfelves we make,
We grow more partial for th' obferver's fake;
To written wisdom, as another's less;

10

Maxims are drawn from notions, these from guess.
There's fome peculiar in each leaf and grain,
Some unmark'd fibre, or fome varying vein :
Shall only man be taken in the gross?
Grant but as many forts of mind as mofs.

That each from other differs, first confess ;
Next, that he varies from himself no less;

Add nature's, cuftom's, reafon's, paffion's ftrife,
And all opinion's colours caft on life.

Our depths who fathoms, or our fhallows finds,
Quick whirls, and fhifting eddies, of our minds?
On human actions reafon tho' you can,

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It may be reason, but it is not man :

His principle of action once explore,

That inftant 'tis his principle no more.

Like following life thro' creatures you diffect,
You lose itin the moment you detect.

30

Yet

Yet more; the diff'rence is as great between
The optics feeing, as the objects feen.
All manners take a tincture from our own;
Or come difcolour'd thro' our paffions fhown.
Or fancy's beam enlarges, multiplies,

Contracts, inverts, and gives ten thousand dyes.
Nor will life's ftream for observation stay,

It hurries all too fast to mark their way :

In vain fedate reflections we would make,

35.

When half our knowledge we must snatch, not takes 40 Oft' in the paffion's wild rotation toft,

Our fpring of action to ourselves is loft:

Tir'd, not determin'd, to the last we yield,
And what comes then is mafter of the field.

As the laft image of that troubled heap,

45

When fenfe fubfides, and fancy fports in fleep,

(Tho' paft the recollection of the thought)

Becomes the stuff of which our dream is wrought:
Something as dim to our internal view,

All know 'tis virtue, for he thinks them knaves:
When univerfal homage Umbra pays,

Is thus, perhaps, the caufe of moft we do.

True, fome are open, and to all men known;
Others fo very clofe, they're hid from none;
(So darkness strikes the fenfe no less than light)
Thus gracious Chandos is belov❜d at fight;
And ev'ry child hates Shylock, tho' his foul
Still fits at fquat, and peeps not from its hole.
At half mankind when gen'rous Manly raves,

All fee 'tis vice, and itch of vulgar praife,

бр

When flatt'ry glares, all hate it in a queen,

While one there is who charms us with his fpleen.
But thefe plain characters we rarely find

Tho' ftrong the bent, yet quick the turns of mind :
Or puzzling contraries confound the whole;

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Or affectations quite reverfe the foul.
The dull, flat falfehood ferves for policy,

And in the cunning, truth itfelf's a lie:

Unthought

Unthought-of frailties cheat us in the wife;
The fool lies hid in inconfiftencies.

gout;

See the fame man, in vigour, in the
Alone, in company; in place, or out;
Early at bus'nefs, and at hazard late;
Mad at a fox-chafe, wife at a debate ;
Drunk at a borough, civil at a ball;
Friendly at Hackney, faithless at Whitehall.
Catius is ever moral, ever grave,

Thinks who endures a knave, is next a knave,
Save juft at dinner-then prefers, no doubt,
A rogue with ven'fon to a faint without,

Who would not praise Patricio's high defert,
His hand unftain'd, his uncorrupted heart,
His comprehenfive head! all int'reft weigh'd,
All Europe fay'd, yet Britain not betray'd.
He thanks you not, his pride is in picquette,
Newmarket-fame, and judgment at a bet.

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What made (fay Montagne, or more fage Charron!) Otho a warrior, Cromwell a buffoon?

A perjur'd prince* a leaden faint revere,
A godlefs regent tremble at a star † ?
The throne a bigot keep, a genius quit §,
Faithlefs through piety, and dup'd thro' wit?
Europe a woman, child, or dotard rule,
And just her wifeft monarch made a fool?

Know, God and Nature only are the fame :
In man, the judgment shoots at flying game;
A bird of paflage! gone as foon as found,
Now in the moon perhaps, now under ground.

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* Louis XI. of France wore in his hat a leaden image of the Virgin Mary, which when he swore by, he feared to break his oath.

+ Philip, duke of Orleans, regent of France, in the minority of Louis XV. fuperftitious in judicial astrology, though an unbeliever in all religion. § Philip V. of Spain, who after renouncing the throne for religion, refumed it to gratify his queen; and Victor Amadeus II. king of Sardinia, who refigned the crown, and trying to reaffume it, was imprifoned 'till his death.

The Czarina, the king of France, the Pope and the above-mentioned king of Sardinia.

VOL. I.