travell'd amongst us, _That good Poetry is not to be expected in_
New-England. I am apt to Fancy, the Reason is, not because our
Countrymen are altogether void of a Poetical Genius, nor yet because we
have not those Advantages of Education which other Countries have, but
purely because we do not afford that Praise and Encouragement which is
merited, when any thing extraordinary of this Kind is produc'd among us:
Upon which Consideration I have determined, when I meet with a Good
Piece of _New-England_ Poetry, to give it a suitable Encomium, and
thereby endeavour to discover to the World some of its Beautys, in order
to encourage the Author to go on, and bless the World with more, and
more Excellent Productions.
There has lately appear'd among us a most Excellent Piece of Poetry,
entituled, _An Elegy upon the much Lamented Death of Mrs._ Mehitebell
Kitel, _Wife of Mr._ John Kitel _of_ Salem, _Etc._ It may justly be said
in its Praise, without Flattery to the Author, that it is the most
_Extraordinary_ Piece that was ever wrote in _New-England_. The Language
is so soft and Easy, the Expression so moving and pathetick, but above
all, the Verse and Numbers so Charming and Natural, that it is almost
beyond Comparison.
The Muse _disdains[F]
Those Links and Chains,
Measures and Rules of Vulgar Strains,
And o'er the Laws of Harmony a Sovereign Queen she reigns._
[F] Watts. [_Franklin's note._]
I find no English Author, Ancient or Modern, whose Elegies may be
compar'd with this, in respect to the Elegance of Stile, or Smoothness
of Rhime; and for the affecting Part, I will leave your Readers to
judge, if ever they read any Lines, that would sooner make them _draw
their Breath_ and Sigh, if not shed Tears, than these following.
_Come let us mourn, for we have lost a
Wife, a Daughter, and a Sister,
Who has lately taken Flight, and
greatly we have mist her._
In another place,
Some little Time _before she yielded up her Breath,
She said, I ne'er shall hear one Sermon more on Earth.
She kist her Husband_ some little Time _before she expir'd,
Then lean'd her Head the Pillow on, just out of Breath and tir'd._
But the Threefold Appellation in the first Line
--_a Wife, a Daughter, and a Sister_,
must not pass unobserved. That Line in the celebrated _Watts_,
GUNSTON, _the Just, the Generous, and the Young,_
is nothing Comparable to it. The latter only mentions three
Qualifications of _one_ Person who was deceased, which therefore could
raise Grief and Compassion but for _One_. Whereas the former, (_our most
excellent Poet_) gives his Reader a Sort of an Idea of the Death of
_Three Persons_, viz.
--_a Wife, a Daughter, and a Sister,_
which is _Three Times_ as great a Loss as the Death of _One_, and
consequently must raise _Three Times_ as much Grief and Compassion in
the Reader.
I should be very much straitened for Room, if I should attempt to
discover even half the Excellencies of this Elegy which are obvious to
me. Yet I cannot omit one Observation, which is, that the Author has (to
his Honour) invented a new Species of Poetry, which wants a Name, and
was never before known. His muse scorns to be confin'd to the old
Measures and Limits, or to observe the dull Rules of Criticks;
_Nor_ Rapin _gives her Rules to fly, nor_ Purcell _Notes to Sing._
WATTS.
Now 'tis Pity that such an Excellent Piece should not be dignify'd with
a particular Name; and seeing it cannot justly be called, either _Epic_,
_Sapphic_, _Lyric_, or _Pindaric_, nor any other Name yet invented, I
presume it may, (in Honour and Remembrance of the Dead) be called the
KITELIC. Thus much in the Praise of _Kitelic Poetry_.
It is certain, that those Elegies which are of our own Growth, (and our
Soil seldom produces any other sort of Poetry) are by far the greatest
part, wretchedly Dull and Ridiculous. Now since it is imagin'd by many,
that our Poets are honest, well-meaning Fellows, who do their best, and
that if they had but some Instructions how to govern Fancy with
Judgment, they would make indifferent good Elegies; I shall here subjoin
a Receipt for that purpose, which was left me as a Legacy, (among other
valuable Rarities) by my Reverend Husband. It is as follows,
A RECEIPT _to make_ a New-England Funeral ELEGY.
For the Title of your Elegy. _Of these you may have enough
ready made to your Hands, but if you should chuse to make it
your self, you must be sure not to omit the words_ Ætatis
Suæ, _which will Beautify it exceedingly._
For the Subject of your Elegy. _Take one of your Neighbours
who has lately departed this Life; it is no great matter at
what Age the Party dy'd, but it will be best if he went away
suddenly, being_ Kill'd, Drown'd, _or_ Frose to Death.
_Having chose the Person, take all his Virtues, Excellencies,
&c. and if he have not enough, you may borrow some to make up
a sufficient Quantity: To these add his last Words, dying
Expressions, &c. if they are to be had; mix all these
together, and be sure you strain them well. Then season all
with a Handful or two of Melancholly Expressions, such as_,
Dreadful, Deadly, cruel cold Death, unhappy Fate, weeping
Eyes, &c. _Have mixed all these Ingredients well, put them
into the empty Scull of some_ young Harvard; (_but in Case
you have ne'er a One at Hand, you may use your own_,) _there
let them Ferment for the Space of a Fortnight, and by that
Time they will be incorporated into a Body, which take out,
and having prepared a sufficient Quantity of double Rhimes,
such as_ Power, Flower; Quiver, Shiver; Grieve us, Leave us;
tell you, excel you; Expeditions, Physicians; Fatigue him,
Intrigue him; &c. _you must spread all upon Paper, and if you
can procure a Scrap of Latin to put at the End, it will
garnish it mightily, then having affixed your Name at the
Bottom, with a_ Moestus Composuit, _you will have an
Excellent Elegy._
N. B. _This Receipt will serve when a Female is the Subject
of your Elegy, provided you borrow a greater Quantity of
Virtues, Excellencies, &c._
SIR,
_Your Servant,_
SILENCE DOGOOD.
_P.S._ I shall make no other Answer to _Hypercarpus's_ Criticism on my
last Letter than this, _Mater me genuit, peperit mox filia matrem_.
DOGOOD PAPERS, NO. XII
(From Monday September 3. to Monday September 10. 1722.)
_Quod est in corde sobrii, est in ore ebrii._
_To the Author of the_ New-England Courant.
SIR,
It is no unprofitable tho' unpleasant Pursuit, diligently to inspect and
consider the Manners & Conversation of Men, who, insensible of the
greatest Enjoyments of humane Life, abandon themselves to Vice from a
false Notion of _Pleasure_ and _good Fellowship_. A true and natural
Representation of any Enormity, is often the best Argument against it
and Means of removing it, when the most severe Reprehensions alone, are
found ineffectual.
I would in this Letter improve the little Observation I have made on the
Vice of _Drunkeness_, the better to reclaim the _good Fellows_ who
usually pay the Devotions of the Evening to _Bacchus_.
I doubt not but _moderate Drinking_ has been improv'd for the Diffusion
of Knowledge among the ingenious Part of Mankind, who want the Talent of
a ready Utterance, in order to discover the Conceptions of their Minds
in an entertaining and intelligible Manner. 'Tis true, drinking does not
_improve_ our Faculties, but it enables us to use them; and therefore I
conclude, that much Study and Experience, and a little Liquor, are of
absolute Necessity for some Tempers, in order to make them accomplish'd
Orators. _Dic. Ponder_ discovers an excellent Judgment when he is
inspir'd with a Glass or two of _Claret_, but he passes for a Fool among
those of small Observation, who never saw him the better for Drink. And
here it will not be improper to observe, That the moderate Use of
Liquor, and a well plac'd and well regulated Anger, often produce this
same Effect; and some who cannot ordinarily talk but in broken Sentences
and false Grammar, do in the Heat of Passion express themselves with as
much Eloquence as Warmth. Hence it is that my own Sex are generally the
most eloquent, because the most passionate. "It has been said in the
Praise of some Men," (says an ingenious Author,) "that they could talk
whole Hours together upon any thing; but it must be owned to the Honour
of the other Sex, that there are many among them who can talk whole
Hours together upon Nothing. I have known a Woman branch out into a long
extempore Dissertation on the Edging of a Petticoat, and chide her
Servant for breaking a China Cup, in all the Figures of Rhetorick."
But after all it must be consider'd, that no Pleasure can give
Satisfaction or prove advantageous to a _reasonable Mind_, which is not
attended with the _Restraints of Reason_. Enjoyment is not to be found
by Excess in any sensual Gratification; but on the contrary, the
immoderate Cravings of the Voluptuary, are always succeeded with
Loathing and a palled Apetite. What Pleasure can the Drunkard have in
the Reflection, that, while in his Cups, he retain'd only the Shape of a
Man, and acted the Part of a Beast; or that from reasonable Discourse a
few Minutes before, he descended to Impertinence and Nonsense?
I cannot pretend to account for the different Effects of Liquor on
Persons of different Dispositions, who are guilty of Excess in the Use
of it. 'Tis strange to see Men of a regular Conversation become rakish
and profane when intoxicated with Drink, and yet more surprizing to
observe, that some who appear to be the most profligate Wretches when
sober, become mighty religious in their Cups, and will then, and at no
other Time address their Maker, but when they are destitute of Reason,
and actually affronting him. Some shrink in the Wetting, and others
swell to such an unusual Bulk in their Imaginations, that they can in an
Instant understand all Arts and Sciences, by the liberal Education of a
little vivyfying _Punch_, or a sufficient Quantity of other exhilerating
Liquor.
And as the Effects of Liquor are various, so are the Characters given to
its Devourers. It argues some Shame in the Drunkards themselves, in that
they have invented numberless Words and Phrases to cover their Folly,
whose proper Significations are harmless, or have no Signification at
all. They are seldom known to be _drunk_, tho they are very often
_boozey_, _cogey_, _tipsey_, _fox'd_, _merry_, _mellow_, _fuddl'd_,
_groatable_, _Confoundedly cut_, _See two Moons_, are _Among the
Philistines_, _In a very good Humour_, _See the Sun_, or, _The Sun has
shone upon them_; they _Clip the King's English_, are _Almost froze_,
_Feavourish_, _In their Altitudes_, _Pretty well enter'd_, &c.[18] In
short, every Day produces some new Word or Phrase which might be added
to the Vocabulary of the _Tiplers_: But I have chose to mention these
few, because if at any Time a Man of Sobriety and Temperance happens to
_cut himself confoundedly_, or is _almoss froze_, or _feavourish_, or
accidentally _sees the Sun_, &c. he may escape the Imputation of being
_drunk_, when his Misfortune comes to be related.
_I am_ SIR,
_Your Humble Servant,_
SILENCE DOGOOD.
EDITORIAL PREFACE TO THE NEW ENGLAND COURANT
(_From Monday, February 4, to Monday, February 11, 1723_)
The late Publisher of this Paper,[19] finding so many Inconveniences
would arise by his carrying the Manuscripts and publick News to be
supervis'd by the Secretary, as to render his carrying it on
unprofitable, has intirely dropt the Undertaking. The present Publisher
having receiv'd the following Piece, desires the Readers to accept of it
as a Preface to what they may hereafter meet with in this Paper.
Non ego mordaci distrinxi Carmine quenquam
Nulla vonenato Litera onista Joco est.
Long has the Press groaned in bringing forth an hateful, but numerous
Brood of Party Pamphlets, malicious Scribbles, and Billinsgate Ribaldry.
The Rancour and bitterness it has unhappily infused into Men's minds,
and to what a Degree it has sowred and leaven'd the Tempers of Persons
formerly esteemed some of the most sweet and affable, is too well known
here, to need any further Proof or Representation of the Matter.
No generous and impartial Person then can blame the present Undertaking,
which is designed purely for the Diversion and Merriment of the Reader.
Pieces of Pleasancy and Mirth have a secret Charm in them to allay the
Heats and Tumours of our Spirits, and to make a Man forget his restless
Resentments. They have a strange Power to tune the harsh Disorders of
the Soul, and reduce us to a serene and placid State of Mind.
The main Design of this Weekly Paper will be to entertain the Town with
the most comical and diverting Incidents of Humane Life, which in so
large a Place as _Boston_ will not fail of a universal Exemplification:
Nor shall we be wanting to fill up these Papers with a grateful
Interspersion of more serious Morals which may be drawn from the most
ludicrous and odd Parts of Life.
As for the Author, that is the next Question. But tho' we profess
ourselves ready to oblige the ingenious and courteous Reader with most
Sorts of Intelligence, yet here we beg a Reserve. Nor will it be of any
Manner of Advantage either to them or to the Writers, that their names
should be published; and therefore in this Matter we desire the Favour
of you to suffer us to hold our Tongues: Which tho' at this Time of Day
it may sound like a very uncommon Request, yet it proceeds from the very
Hearts of your Humble Servants.
By this Time the Reader perceives that more than one are engaged in the
present Undertaking. Yet is there one Person, an Inhabitant of this Town
of _Boston_, whom we honour as a Doctor in the Chair, or a perpetual
Dictator.
The Society had design'd to present the Publick with his Effigies, but
that the Limner, to whom he was presented for a Draught of his
Countenance, descryed (and this he is ready to offer upon Oath) Nineteen
Features in his Face, more than ever he beheld in any Humane Visage
before; which so raised the Price of his Picture, that our Master
himself forbid the Extravagance of coming up to it. And then besides,
the Limner objected a Schism in his face, which splits it from his
Forehead in a strait Line down to his chin, in such sort, that Mr.
Painter protests it is a double Face, and he'll have _Four Pounds_ for
the Pourtraiture. However, tho' this double Face has spoilt us of a
pretty Picture, yet we all rejoiced to see old _Janus_ in our Company.
There is no Man in _Boston_ better qualified than old _Janus_ for a
_Couranteer_, or if you please, an _Observator_, being a Man of such
remarkable _Opticks_, as to look two ways at once.
As for his Morals, he is a chearly Christian, as the Country Phrase
expresses it. A Man of good Temper, courteous Deportment, sound
Judgment; a mortal Hater of Nonsense, Foppery, Formality, and endless
Ceremony.
As for his club, they aim at no greater Happiness or Honour, than the
Publick be made to know, that it is the utmost of their Ambition to
attend upon and do all imaginable good Offices to good old _Janus_ the
Couranteer, who is and always will be the Readers humble Servant.
P.S. Gentle Readers, we design never to let a Paper pass without a Latin
Motto if we can possibly pick one up, which carries a Charm in it to the
Vulgar, and the learned admire the pleasure of Construing. We should
have obliged the World with a Greek scrap or two, but the Printer has no
Types, and therefore we intreat the candid Reader not to impute the
defect to our Ignorance, for our Doctor can say all the _Greek_ Letters
by heart.
A DISSERTATION ON LIBERTY AND NECESSITY, PLEASURE AND PAIN
To Mr. J. R.
[London, 1725]
SIR,
I have here, according to your Request, given you my _present_ Thoughts
of the _general State of Things_ in the Universe. Such as they are, you
have them, and are welcome to 'em; and if they yield you any Pleasure or
Satisfaction, I shall think my Trouble sufficiently compensated. I know
my Scheme will be liable to many Objections from a less discerning
Reader than your self; but it is not design'd for those who can't
understand it. I need not give you any Caution to distinguish the
hypothetical Parts of the Argument from the conclusive: You will easily
perceive what I design for Demonstration, and what for Probability only.
The whole I leave entirely to you, and shall value my self more or less
on this account, in proportion to your Esteem and Approbation.
* * * * *
Sect. I. _Of_ Liberty _and_ Necessity
I. _There is said to be a_ First Mover, _who is called_ GOD, _Maker of
the Universe._
II. _He is said to be all-wise, all-good, all powerful._
These two Propositions being allow'd and asserted by People of almost
every Sect and Opinion; I have here suppos'd them granted, and laid them
down as the Foundation of my Argument; What follows then, being a Chain
of Consequences truly drawn from them, will stand or fall as they are
true or false.
III. _If He is all-good, whatsoever He doth must be good._
IV. _If He is all-wise, whatsoever He doth must be wise._
The Truth of these Propositions, with relation to the two first, I think
may be justly call'd evident; since, either that infinite Goodness will
act what is ill, or infinite Wisdom what is, not wise, is too glaring a
Contradiction not to be perceiv'd by any Man of common Sense, and
deny'd as soon as understood.
V. _If He is all-powerful, there can be nothing either existing or
acting in the Universe_ against _or_ without _his Consent, and what He
consents to must be good, because He is good, therefore_ Evil _doth not
exist._
_Unde Malum?_ has been long a Question, and many of the Learned have
perplex'd themselves and Readers to little Purpose in Answer to it. That
there are both Things and Actions to which we give the Name of _Evil_,
is not here deny'd, as _Pain_, _Sickness_, _Want_, _Theft_, _Murder_,
&c. but that these and the like are not in reality _Evils_, _Ills_, or
_Defects_ in the Order of the Universe, is demonstrated in the next
Section, as well as by this and the following Proposition. Indeed, to
suppose any Thing to exist or be done, _contrary_ to the Will of the
Almighty, is to suppose him not almighty; or that Something (the Cause
of _Evil_) is more mighty than the Almighty; an Inconsistence that I
think no One will defend: And to deny any Thing or Action, which he
consents to the existence of, to be good, is entirely to destroy his two
Attributes of _Wisdom_ and _Goodness_.
_There is nothing done in the Universe_, say the Philosophers, _but what
God either does, or_ permits _to be done_. This, as He is Almighty, is
certainly true: But what need of this Distinction between _doing_ and
_permitting_? Why, first they take it for granted that many Things in
the Universe exist in such a Manner as is not for the best, and that
many Actions are done which ought not to be done, or would be better
undone; these Things or Actions they cannot ascribe to God as His,
because they have already attributed to Him infinite Wisdom and
Goodness; Here then is the Use of the Word _Permit_; He _permits_ them
to be done, _say they_. But we will reason thus: If God permits an
Action to be done, it is because he wants either _Power_ or
_Inclination_ to hinder it; in saying he wants _Power_, we deny Him to
be _almighty_; and if we say He wants _Inclination_ or _Will_, it must
be, either because He is not Good, or the Action is not _evil_, (for all
Evil is contrary to the Essence of _Infinite Goodness_.) The former is
inconsistent with his before-given Attribute of Goodness, therefore the
latter must be true.
It will be said, perhaps, that _God permits evil Actions to be done,
for_ wise _Ends and Purposes_. But this Objection destroys itself; for
whatever an infinitely good God hath wise Ends in suffering to _be_,
must be good, is thereby made good, and cannot be otherwise.
VI. _If a Creature is made by God, it must depend upon God, and receive
all its Power from Him, with which Power the Creature can do nothing
contrary to the Will of God, because God is Almighty; what is not
contrary to His Will, must be agreeable to it; what is agreeable to it,
must be good, because He is Good; therefore a Creature can do nothing
but what is good._
This Proposition is much to the same Purpose with the former, but more
particular; and its Conclusion is as just and evident. Tho' a Creature
may do many Actions which by his Fellow Creatures will be nam'd _Evil_,
and which will naturally and necessarily cause or bring upon the Doer,
certain _Pains_ (which will likewise be call'd _Punishments_;) yet this
Proposition proves, that he cannot act what will be in itself really
Ill, or displeasing to God. And that the painful Consequences of his
evil Actions (_so call'd_) are not, as indeed they ought not to be,
_Punishments_ or Unhappinesses, will be shewn hereafter.
Nevertheless, the late learned Author of _The Religion of Nature_,
(which I send you herewith) has given us a Rule or Scheme, whereby to
discover which of our Actions ought to be esteem'd and denominated
_good_, and which _evil_; It is in short this, "Every Action which is
done according to _Truth_, is good; and every Action contrary to Truth,
is evil: To act according to Truth is to use and esteem every Thing as
what it is, &c. Thus if _A_ steals a Horse from _B_, and rides away upon
him, he uses him not as what he is in Truth, _viz._ the Property of
another, but as his own, which is contrary to Truth, and therefore
_evil_." But, as this Gentleman himself says, (Sect. I. Prop. VI.) "In
order to judge rightly what any Thing is, it must be consider'd, not
only what it is in one Respect, but also what it may be in any other
Respect; and the whole Description of the Thing ought to be taken in: So
in this Case it ought to be consider'd, that _A_ is naturally a
_covetous_ Being, feeling an Uneasiness in the want of _B's_ Horse,
which produces an Inclination for stealing him, stronger than his Fear
of Punishment for so doing. This is _Truth_ likewise, and _A_ acts
according to it when he steals the Horse. Besides, if it is prov'd to be
a _Truth_, that _A_ has not Power over his own Actions, it will be
indisputable that he acts according to Truth, and impossible he should
do otherwise.
I would not be understood by this to encourage or defend Theft; 'tis
only for the sake of the Argument, and will certainly have no _ill
Effect_. The Order and Course of Things will not be affected by
Reasoning of this Kind; and 'tis as just and necessary, and as much
according to Truth, for _B_ to dislike and punish the Theft of his
Horse, as it is for _A_ to steal him.
VII. _If the Creature is thus limited in his Actions, being able to do
only such Things as God would have him to do, and not being able to
refuse doing what God would have done; then he can have no such Thing as
Liberty, Free-will or Power to do or refrain an Action._
By _Liberty_ is sometimes understood the Absence of Opposition; and in
this Sense, indeed, all our Actions may be said to be the Effects of our
Liberty: But it is a Liberty of the same Nature with the Fall of a heavy
Body to the Ground; it has Liberty to fall, that is, it meets with
nothing to hinder its Fall, but at the same Time it is necessitated to
fall, and has no Power or Liberty to remain suspended.