No. 56. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1750.
_----Valeat res ludicra, si me_
_Palma negata macrum, donata reducit opimum._
HOR. Lib. ii. Ep. i. 180.
Farewell the stage; for humbly I disclaim
Such fond pursuits of pleasure, or of fame,
If I must sink in shame, or swell with pride,
As the gay palm is granted or denied.
FRANCIS.
Nothing is more unpleasing than to find that offence has been received
when none was intended, and that pain has been given to those who were
not guilty of any provocation. As the great end of society is mutual
beneficence, a good man is always uneasy when he finds himself acting in
opposition to the purposes of life; because, though his conscience may
easily acquit him of _malice prepense_, of settled hatred or contrivances
of mischief, yet he seldom can be certain, that he has not failed by
negligence, or indolence; that he has not been hindered from consulting
the common interest by too much regard to his own ease, or too much
indifference to the happiness of others.
Nor is it necessary, that, to feel this uneasiness, the mind should be
extended to any great diffusion of generosity, or melted by uncommon
warmth of benevolence; for that prudence which the world teaches, and a
quick sensibility of private interest, will direct us to shun needless
enmities; since there is no man whose kindness we may not some time want,
or by whose malice we may not some time suffer.
I have therefore frequently looked with wonder, and now and then with
pity, at the thoughtlessness with which some alienate from themselves
the affections of all whom chance, business, or inclination, brings in
their way. When we see a man pursuing some darling interest, without
much regard to the opinion of the world, we justly consider him as
corrupt and dangerous, but are not long in discovering his motives; we
see him actuated by passions which are hard to be resisted, and deluded
by appearances which have dazzled stronger eyes. But the greater part of
those who set mankind at defiance by hourly irritation, and who live but
to infuse malignity, and multiply enemies, have no hopes to foster, no
designs to promote, nor any expectations of attaining power by insolence,
or of climbing to greatness by trampling on others. They give up all the
sweets of kindness, for the sake of peevishness, petulance, or gloom; and
alienate the world by neglect of the common forms of civility, and breach
of the established laws of conversation.
Every one must, in the walks of life, have met with men of whom all speak
with censure, though they are not chargeable with any crime, and whom
none can be persuaded to love, though a reason can scarcely be assigned
why they should be hated; and who, if their good qualities and actions
sometimes force a commendation, have their panegyrick always concluded
with confessions of disgust; "he is a good man, but I cannot like him."
Surely such persons have sold the esteem of the world at too low a price,
since they have lost one of the rewards of virtue, without gaining the
profits of wickedness.
This ill economy of fame is sometimes the effect of stupidity. Men whose
perceptions are languid and sluggish, who lament nothing but loss of
money, and feel nothing but a blow, are often at a difficulty to guess
why they are encompassed with enemies, though they neglect all those arts
by which men are endeared to one another. They comfort themselves that
they have lived irreproachably; that none can charge them with having
endangered his life, or diminished his possessions; and therefore conclude
that they suffer by some invincible fatality, or impute the malice of
their neighbours to ignorance or envy. They wrap themselves up in their
innocence, and enjoy the congratulations of their own hearts, without
knowing or suspecting that they are every day deservedly incurring
resentments, by withholding from those with whom they converse, that
regard, or appearance of regard, to which every one is entitled by the
customs of the world.
There are many injuries which almost every man feels, though he does not
complain, and which, upon those whom virtue, elegance, or vanity, have
made delicate and tender, fix deep and lasting impressions; as there are
many arts of graciousness and conciliation, which are to be practised
without expense, and by which those may be made our friends, who have
never received from us any real benefit. Such arts, when they include
neither guilt nor meanness, it is surely reasonable to learn, for who
would want that love which is so easily to be gained? And such injuries
are to be avoided; for who would be hated without profit?
Some, indeed, there are, for whom the excuse of ignorance or negligence
cannot be alleged, because it is apparent that they are not only
careless of pleasing, but studious to offend; that they contrive to make
all approaches to them difficult and vexatious, and imagine that they
aggrandize themselves by wasting the time of others in useless attendance,
by mortifying them with slights, and teazing them with affronts.
Men of this kind are generally to be found among those that have not
mingled much in general conversation, but spent their lives amidst the
obsequiousness of dependants, and the flattery of parasites; and by long
consulting only their own inclination, have forgotten that others have
claim to the same deference.
Tyranny thus avowed, is indeed an exuberance of pride, by which all
mankind is so much enraged, that it is never quietly endured, except
in those who can reward the patience which they exact; and insolence is
generally surrounded only by such whose baseness inclines them to think
nothing insupportable that produces gain, and who can laugh at scurrility
and rudeness with a luxurious table and an open purse.
But though all wanton provocations and contemptuous insolence are to
be diligently avoided, there is no less danger in timid compliance and
tame resignation. It is common for soft and fearful tempers to give
themselves up implicitly to the direction of the bold, the turbulent,
and the overbearing; of those whom they do not believe wiser or better
than themselves; to recede from the best designs where opposition must
be encountered, and to fall off from virtue for fear of censure.
Some firmness and resolution is necessary to the discharge of duty; but it
is a very unhappy state of life in which the necessity of such struggles
frequently occurs; for no man is defeated without some resentment, which
will be continued with obstinacy while he believes himself in the right,
and exerted with bitterness, if even to his own conviction he is detected
in the wrong.
Even though no regard be had to the external consequences of contrariety
and dispute, it must be painful to a worthy mind to put others in pain,
and there will be danger lest the kindest nature may be vitiated by too
long a custom of debate and contest.
I am afraid that I may be taxed with insensibility by many of my
correspondents, who believe their contributions unjustly neglected.
And, indeed, when I sit before a pile of papers, of which each is the
production of laborious study, and the offspring of a fond parent, I, who
know the passions of an author, cannot remember how long they have lain
in my boxes unregarded, without imagining to myself the various changes
of sorrow, impatience, and resentment, which the writers must have felt
in this tedious interval.
These reflections are still more awakened, when, upon perusal, I find some
of them calling for a place in the next paper, a place which they have
never yet obtained: others writing in a style of superiority and
haughtiness, as secure of deference, and above fear of criticism; others
humbly offering their weak assistance with softness and submission,
which they believe impossible to be resisted; some introducing their
compositions with a menace of the contempt which he that refuses them will
incur; others applying privately to the booksellers for their interest
and solicitation; every one by different ways endeavouring to secure
the bliss of publication. I cannot but consider myself as placed in a
very incommodious situation, where I am forced to repress confidence,
which it is pleasing to indulge, to repay civilities with appearances of
neglect, and so frequently to offend those by whom I never was offended.
I know well how rarely an author, fired with the beauties of his new
composition, contains his raptures in his own bosom, and how naturally
he imparts to his friends his expectations of renown; and as I can easily
conceive the eagerness with which a new paper is snatched up, by one
who expects to find it filled with his own production, and perhaps has
called his companions to share the pleasure of a second perusal, I grieve
for the disappointment which he is to feel at the fatal inspection. His
hopes, however, do not yet forsake him; he is certain of giving lustre
the next day. The next day comes, and again he pants with expectation,
and having dreamed of laurels and Parnassus, casts his eyes upon the
barren page, with which he is doomed never more to be delighted.
For such cruelty what atonement can be made? For such calamities what
alleviation can be found? I am afraid that the mischief already done must
be without reparation, and all that deserves my care is prevention for
the future. Let therefore the next friendly contributor, whoever he be,
observe the cautions of Swift, and write secretly in his own chamber,
without communicating his design to his nearest friend, for the nearest
friend will be pleased with an opportunity of laughing. Let him carry
it to the post himself, and wait in silence for the event. If it is
published and praised, he may then declare himself the author; if it be
suppressed, he may wonder in private without much vexation; and if it be
censured, he may join in the cry, and lament the dulness of the writing
generation.
No. 57. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1750.
_Non intelligunt homines quam magnum vectigal sit parsimonia._
TULL. Par. vi.
The world has not yet learned the riches of frugality.