Having proposed to write some pieces of Human Life and Manners, such as
(to use my Lord Bacon's expression) come home to Men's Business and
Bosoms, I thought it more satisfactory to begin with considering Man in
the abstract, his Nature and his State; since, to prove any moral duty,
to enforce any moral precept, or to examine the perfection or
imperfection of any creature whatsoever, it is necessary first to know
what condition and relation it is placed in, and what is the proper end
and purpose of its being.
The science of Human Nature is, like all other sciences, reduced to a few
clear points: there are not many certain truths in this world. It is
therefore in the anatomy of the Mind as in that of the Body; more good
will accrue to mankind by attending to the large, open, and perceptible
parts, than by studying too much such finer nerves and vessels, the
conformations and uses of which will for ever escape our observation. The
disputes are all upon these last, and, I will venture to say, they have
less sharpened the wits than the hearts of men against each other, and
have diminished the practice more than advanced the theory of Morality.
If I could flatter myself that this Essay has any merit, it is in
steering betwixt the extremes of doctrines seemingly opposite, in passing
over terms utterly unintelligible, and in forming a temperate yet not
inconsistent, and a short yet not imperfect system of Ethics.
This I might have done in prose, but I chose verse, and even rhyme, for
two reasons. The one will appear obvious; that principles, maxims, or
precepts so written, both strike the reader more strongly at first, and
are more easily retained by him afterwards: the other may seem odd, but
is true, I found I could express them more shortly this way than in prose
itself; and nothing is more certain, than that much of the force as well
as grace of arguments or instructions depends on their conciseness. I
was unable to treat this part of my subject more in detail, without
becoming dry and tedious; or more poetically, without sacrificing
perspicuity to ornament, without wandering from the precision, or
breaking the chain of reasoning: if any man can unite all these without
diminution of any of them I freely confess he will compass a thing above
my capacity.
What is now published is only to be considered as a general Map of Man,
marking out no more than the greater parts, their extent, their limits,
and their connection, and leaving the particular to be more fully
delineated in the charts which are to follow. Consequently, these
Epistles in their progress (if I have health and leisure to make any
progress) will be less dry, and more susceptible of poetical ornament. I
am here only opening the fountains, and clearing the passage. To deduce
the rivers, to follow them in their course, and to observe their effects,
may be a task more agreeable. P.