abstemious Man; that the Motives which spurred him on to Industry, were
his Love of Money, and Desire after worldly Greatness. Considering the
small Delight he always seem'd to take in strong Liquors, and his known
Thirst after Gain, it is impossible to account rationally for his
excessive Drinking one Morning, than by ascribing it to his darling
Passion, the Love of Lucre, which made him venture to lose his Sobriety
rather than the Advantage which he expected from the Bargain he was
driving. Therefore it is plain from this Character, that the Love of
Wine, whether it was, counted blameable or praise-worthy, had no
Influence upon _Nicanor_'s Actions, and consequently that, tho' it had
been less than it was, it would never have diminish'd his Industry.
In _Lepidus_ we see a fond Admirer of Company, and a discreet Lover of
himself, who would enjoy as much of the World as is possible, without
forfeiting the good Opinion of it: And a rich Man, of an even Temper,
might perform all this in a Christian Country, from no better
Principles than Pride and worldly Prudence, tho' he had very little or
no Religion.
All This an hasty and inconsiderate Reader will call Folly, and tell
me, that I am fighting with my own Shadow; and that, from the Character
of _Nicanor_, no Mortal would imagine, that his Industry and Desire
after Wealth could proceed from, and be owing to his Love of Wine: But
I insist upon it, and you must allow it, Sir, that there would be no
greater Absurdity in an Attempt of proving this, than there would be in
ascribing the Sociableness and generous Behaviour of _Lepidus_ to his
being a Christian. All Men who are born of Christian Parents, and
brought up among Christians, are always deem'd to be such themselves,
whilst they acquiesce in, and not disown the Name: But unless People
are palpably influenc'd by their Religion, in their Actions and
Behaviour, there is no greater Advantage in being a Christian, than
there is in being a Mahometan or a Heathen. If a Person was made free
of a Company which presided over Artizans, in a toilsome laborious
Trade, and he neither had serv'd his Time to it before, nor ever
followed it afterwards, it could not be said of such a Person, whatever
other Use he might make of his Freedom, that he actually was, or had
been, of that laborious, toilsome Employment. A Man who was baptiz'd in
his Infancy, may comply with all the outward Forms of his Religion;
and, if he loves his Reputation, never be guilty of any notorious
Wickedness. But if all this While, which is not impossible, his Heart
is closely attach'd to this World; if he has a far greater Value for
Sensual, than he has for Spiritual Pleasures, and persists in a Course
of a voluptuous Life for many Years, without Repentance: A Man, I say,
who does this, cannot be a more real Christian, tho' he conform'd to
all the Rites and Ceremonies, and bore a great Sway in the Vestry, than
a Linnen-Draper could be a real Blacksmith, tho' he was free of the
Blacksmiths Company, and was a Livery-Man amongst them.
That weak silly People may form such wrong Judgments, as I have hinted
at, from no worse Cause, than Want of Capacity, and mere Folly, I am
willing to believe. But when I see Men of very good Sense, and
considerable Knowledge, guilty of it, I can't help thinking, that they
do it with Design, and because they find their Interest in it. This is
certain, that when once it is taken for granted, that to be a
Christian, it is sufficient to acquiesce in being call'd so, and attend
the outward Worship of some Sect or other, it saves the Clergy a vast
Deal of Trouble, from Friends as well as Foes. For to quiet and satisfy
all scrupulous Consciences, is as great a Drudgery as it is to write in
Defence of Miracles.
The Reason, Sir, why I have said so much on this Head, is, that among
those who outwardly shew the greatest Zeal for Religion and the Gospel,
I see hardly Any who teach us, either by Precept or Example, the
Severity of Manners which Christianity requires. They seem to be much
more sollicitous about the Name, than they are about the Thing it self;
as if, when Men would but own themselves to be Christians, it was no
great Matter for the Qualifications which must make them so. When of
late I have cast my Eyes upon the Behaviour of some People, who shall
be nameless, it has put me in Mind of the _Free-Masons_. These, you
know, are divided in several Companies; each Company have a Lodge of
their own; every Lodge has a Master; over all these Masters again,
there is a Grand Master. Some of them meet once a Month; others not so
often; they pretend to Mysteries, and eat and drink together; they make
use of several Ceremonies, which are peculiar to themselves, with great
Gravity; and with all this Bustle they make, I could never learn yet,
that they had any Thing to do, but to be _Free-Masons_, speak well of
the Honour of their Society, and either pity or despise all those who
are not Members of it: Out of their Assemblies, they live and converse
like other Men: And tho' I have been in Company with several of them, I
profess, unless I am told it, I can never know, who is a _Free-Mason_,
and who is not.
I know, Sir, you love _Allegory_; and on that Score, I have been
extremely delighted with what you say, Page 332, of your first Volume;
where you justly ridicule and expose those Libertines, who pretend to
be Patriots for _Liberty and Property_. I beg Leave, for the Benefit of
other Readers, to transcribe the Passage. _When I hear, says Crito,
these two Words in the Mouth of a_ Minute Philosopher, _I am put in
Mind of the_ Teste di Ferro _at Rome. His Holiness, it seems, not
having Power to assign Pensions, on_ Spanish _Benefices, to Any but
Natives of_ Spain, _always keeps at_ Rome _Two Spaniards, call'd_ Teste
di Ferro, _who have the Name of all such Pensions, but not the Profit,
which goes to_ Italians. _As we may see every Day, both Things and
Notions placed to the Account of Liberty and Property, which in Reality
neither have, nor are meant to have any Share in them. What! is it
impossible for a Man to be a Christian, but he must be a Slave; or a
Clergyman, but he must have the Principles of an Inquisitor?_ This is
very _a propos_, and admirably well applied. I thank you for it. I know
Abundance of Divines, who seem to be very fond of the World, and are
always grasping at Wealth and Power; and whenever I hear Any of these
mention their Concern for Religion, and the Spiritual Welfare of
Others, as they often do, I shall always think on _Crito_'s Story,
laugh heartily, and say no more. For if I should imitate him, in
exclaiming every Time I saw _both Things and Notions placed to the
Account of_ Religion and the Spiritual Welfare of Others, _which, in
Reality, neither have, nor are meant to have any Share in them_, I
should never be able to follow any other Business, than to cry out,
What! is it impossible, that the Christian Religion should be taken
Care of, unless Ecclesiasticks ride in Coaches and Six; or the
Spiritual Welfare of the Laity, without Temporal Dominion and an
extravagant Power in the Clergy?
My _Allegory_, you see, Sir, is but a Copy of yours, and therefore
cannot have the same Merit. How you will like it I can't tell; but I
fancy, that most of my Readers besides, will be of Opinion, that if his
Holiness makes no greater Advantage by his _Teste di Ferro_ at _Rome_,
than the Cause, which you espouse, is like to get by yours here, it
will hardly be worth his while to keep them any longer.
Here, Sir, I shall take my Leave of you, in full Expectation, that, in
what relates to me, I shall find great Alterations in your next
Edition. To furnish you with as many Materials for this Purpose as I
can conveniently, I shall fill what Room I have left with another
Quotation from _The Fable of the Bees_, beginning Page 410. If my Paper
would have held out, and I could have added a Page or two more, you
would have seen how wickedly I have been misrepresented in what I say
about the Fire of _London_.
_It is certain, that the fewer Desires a Man has, and the less he
Covets, the more easy he is to himself: The more active he is to supply
his own Wants, and the less he requires to be waited upon, the more he
will be beloved, and the less Trouble he is in a Family: The more he
loves Peace and Concord, the more Charity he has for his Neighbour: And
the more he shines in real Virtue, there is no doubt, but that in
Proportion he is acceptable to God and Man. But let us be Just. What
Benefit can these Things be of, or what Earthly Good can they do, to
promote the Wealth, the Glory and Worldly Greatness of Nations? It is
the Sensual Courtier, that sets no Limits to his Luxury; the Fickle
Strumpet that invents New Fashions every Week; the Haughty Dutchess,
that in Equipage, Entertainments, and all her Behaviour, would imitate
a Princess; the Profuse Rake and lavish Heir, that scatter about their
Money without Wit or Judgment, buy every Thing they see, and either
destroy or give it away the next Day; the Covetous and perjur'd
Villain, that squeez'd an immense Treasure from the Tears of Widows and
Orphans, and left the Prodigals the Money to spend. It is these that
are the Prey and proper Food of a full-grown_ Leviathan; _or, in other
Words, such is the calamitous Condition of Human Affairs, that we stand
in Need of the Plagues and Monsters I named, to have all the Variety of
Labour perform'd, which the Skill of Men is capable of inventing, in
order to procure an Honest Livelihood to the vast Multitudes of Working
Poor, that are required to make a large Society: And it is Folly to
imagine, that great and wealthy Nations can subsist, and be at once
Powerful and Polite, without._
_I protest against Popery as much as ever Luther or_ Calvin _did, or
Queen_ Elizabeth _herself; but I believe from my Heart, that the
Reformation has, scarce been more instrumental in rendring the Kingdoms
and States, that have embraced it, flourishing beyond other Nations,
than the silly and capricious Invention of Hoop'd and Quilted
Petticoats. But if this should be denied me by the Enemies of Priestly
Power, at least I am sure, that, bar the brave Men, who have fought for
and against that Lay-Man's Blessing, it has from its first Beginning to
this Day, not employ'd so many Hands, honest industrious labouring
Hands, as the abominable Improvement on Female Luxury, I named, has
done in Few Years. Religion is one Thing, and Trade is another. He that
gives most Trouble to Thousands of his Neighbours, and invents the most
operose Manufactures is, right or wrong, the greatest Friend to the
Society._
_What a Bustle is there to be made in several Parts of the World,
before a fine Scarlet, or Crimson Cloth can be produced? What a
Multiplicity of Trades and Artificers must be employ'd? Not only such
as are obvious, as Wool-combers, Spinners, the Weaver, the
Cloth-worker, the Scowrer, the Dyer, the Setter, the Drawer, and the
Packer; but others that are more remote, and might seem foreign to it;
as the Mill-wright, the Pewterer, and the Chymist, which yet are all
necessary, as well as a great Number of other Handicrafts, to have the
Tools, Utensils, and other Implements belonging to the Trades already
named: But all these Things are done at Home, and may be perform'd
without extraordinary Fatigue or Danger; the most frightful Prospect is
left behind, when we reflect on the Toil and Hazard that are to be
undergone Abroad, the vast Seas we are to go over, the different
Climates we are to endure, and the several Nations we must be obliged
to for their Assistance._ Spain _alone, it is true, might furnish us
with Wool to make the finest Cloth; but what Skill and Pains, what
Experience and Ingenuity are required to dye it of those beautiful
Colours! How widely are the Drugs and other Ingredients dispers'd
through the Universe, that are to meet in one Kettle. Allom, indeed, we
have of our own; Argol we might have from the_ Rhine, _and Vitriol
from_ Hungary; _all this is in_ Europe; _but then for Saltpetre in
Quantity, we are forc'd to go as far as the_ East-Indies: _Cochenille,
unknown to the Ancients, is not much nearer to us, tho' in a quite
different Part of the Earth; we buy it, 'tis true, from the_ Spaniards;
_but not being their Product, they are forc'd to fetch it for us from
the remotest Corner of the New World in the_ West-Indies. _Whilst so
many Sailors are broiling in the Sun, and swelter'd with Heat in the_
East _and_ West _of us, another Set of them are freezing in the_ North,
_to fetch Potashes from_ Russia.
_When we are thoroughly acquainted with all the Variety of Toil and
Labour, the Hardships and Calamities, that must be undergone to compass
the End I speak of, and we consider the vast Risques and Perils that
are run in those Voyages, and that Few of them are ever made, but at
the Expence, not only of the Health and Welfare, but even the Lives of
Many: When we are acquainted with, I say and duely consider the Things
I named, it is scarce possible to conceive a Tyrant so inhuman and void
of Shame, that beholding Things in the same View, he should exact such
terrible Services from his innocent Slaves; and at the same Time dare
to own, that he did it for no other Reason, than the Satisfaction a Man
receives from having a Garment made of Scarlet or Crimson Cloth. But to
what Height of Luxury must a Nation be arriv'd, where not only the
King's Officers, but likewise his Guards, even the Private Soldiers,
should have such impudent Desires!_
_But if we turn the Prospect, and look on all those Labours, as so many
voluntary Actions, belonging to different Callings and Occupations,
that Men are brought up to for a Livelihood, and in which Every one
works for himself, how much soever he may seem to labour for Others: If
we consider, that even the Sailors, who undergo the greatest Hardships,
as soon as one Voyage is ended, even after a Ship-wreck, are looking
out and solliciting for Employment in another: If we consider, I say,
and look on these Things in another View, we shall find, that the
Labour of the Poor is so far from being a Burthen, and an Imposition
upon them, that to have Employment is a Blessing, which, in their
Addresses to Heaven, they pray for; and to procure it for the
Generality of them, is the greatest Care of every Legislature._
_FINIS._
PUBLICATIONS OF THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY
FIRST YEAR (1946-47)
Numbers 1-6 out of print.
SECOND YEAR (1947-1948)
7. John Gay's _The Present State of Wit_ (1711); and a section on
Wit from _The English Theophrastus_ (1702).
8. Rapin's _De Carmine Pastorali_, translated by Creech (1684).
9. T. Hanmer's (?) _Some Remarks on the Tragedy of Hamlet_ (1736).
10. Corbyn Morris' _Essay towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit,
etc._ (1744).
11. Thomas Purney's _Discourse on the Pastoral_ (1717).
12. Essays on the Stage, selected, with an Introduction by Joseph Wood
Krutch.
THIRD YEAR (1948-1949)
13. Sir John Falstaff (pseud.), _The Theatre_ (1720).
14. Edward Moore's _The Gamester_ (1753).
15. John Oldmixon's _Reflections on Dr. Swift's Letter to Harley_
(1712); and Arthur Mainwaring's _The British Academy_ (1712).
16. Nevil Payne's _Fatal Jealousy_ (1673).
17. Nicholas Rowe's _Some Account of the Life of Mr. William
Shakespeare_ (1709).
18. "Of Genius," in _The Occasional Paper_, Vol. III, No. 10 (1719);
and Aaron Hill's Preface to _The Creation_ (1720).
FOURTH YEAR (1949-1950)
19. Susanna Centlivre's _The Busie Body_ (1709).
20. Lewis Theobold's _Preface to The Works of Shakespeare_ (1734).
21. _Critical Remarks on Sir Charles Grandison, Clarissa, and Pamela_
(1754).
22. Samuel Johnson's _The Vanity of Human Wishes_ (1749) and Two
_Rambler_ papers (1750).
23. John Dryden's _His Majesties Declaration Defended_ (1681).
24. Pierre Nicole's _An Essay on True and Apparent Beauty in Which from
Settled Principles is Rendered the Grounds for Choosing and Rejecting
Epigrams_, translated by J. V. Cunningham.
FIFTH YEAR (1950-51)
25. Thomas Baker's _The Fine Lady's Airs_ (1709).
26. Charles Macklin's _The Man of the World_ (1792).
27. Frances Reynolds' _An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Taste,
and of the Origin of Our Ideas of Beauty, etc._ (1785).
28. John Evelyn's _An Apologie for the Royal Party_ (1659); and _A
Panegyric to Charles the Second_ (1661).
29. Daniel Defoe's _A Vindication of the Press_ (1718).
30. Essays on Taste from John Gilbert Cooper's _Letters Concerning
Taste_, 3rd edition (1757), & John Armstrong's _Miscellanies_ (1770).
SIXTH YEAR (1951-1952)
31. Thomas Gray's _An Elegy Wrote in a Country Church Yard_ (1751); and
_The Eton College Manuscript_.
32. Prefaces to Fiction; Georges de Scudery's Preface to _Ibrahim_
(1674), etc.
33. Henry Gally's _A Critical Essay on Characteristic-Writings_ (1725).
34. Thomas Tyers' A Biographical Sketch of Dr. Samuel Johnson (1785).
35. James Boswell, Andrew Erskine, and George Dempster. _Critical
Strictures on the New Tragedy of Elvira, Written by Mr. David Malloch_
(1763).
36. Joseph Harris's _The City Bride_ (1696).
37. Thomas Morrison's _A Pindarick Ode on Painting_ (1767).
38. John Phillips' _A Satyr Against Hypocrites_.
39. Thomas Warton's _A History of English Poetry_.
40. Edward Bysshe's _The Art of English Poetry_.
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library: University of California
THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY
_General Editors_
H. RICHARD ARCHER
Wm. Andrews Clark Memorial Library
R. C. BOYS
University of Michigan
RALPH COHEN
University of California, Los Angeles
VINTON A. DEARING
University of California, Los Angeles
_Corresponding Secretary:_ MRS. EDNA C. DAVIS,
Wm. Andrews Clark Memorial Library
THE SOCIETY exists to make available inexpensive reprints (usually
facsimile reproductions) of rare seventeenth and eighteenth century
works. The editorial policy of the Society remains unchanged. As in the
past, the editors welcome suggestions concerning publications. All
income of the Society is devoted to defraying cost of publication and
mailing.
All correspondence concerning subscriptions in the United States and
Canada should be addressed to the William Andrews Clark Memorial
Library, 2205 West Adams Boulevard, Los Angeles 18, California.
Correspondence concerning editorial matters may be addressed to any of
the general editors. The membership fee is $3.00 a year for subscribers
in the United States and Canada and 15/- for subscribers in Great
Britain and Europe. British and European subscribers should address B.
H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England.
* * * * *
Publications for the seventh year [1952-1953]
(At least six items, most of them from the following list, will be
reprinted.)
_Selections from the Tatler, the Spectator, the Guardian._ Introduction
by Donald F. Bond.
BERNARD MANDEVILLE: _A Letter to Dion_ (1732).
Introduction by Jacob Viner.
M. C. SARBIEWSKI: _The Odes of Casimire_ (1646),
Introduction by Maren-Sofie Roestvig.
_An Essay on the New Species of Writing Founded by Mr. Fielding_
(1751). Introduction by James A. Work.
[THOMAS MORRISON]: _A Pindarick Ode on Painting_ (1767).
Introduction by Frederick W. Hilles.
[JOHN PHILLIPS]: _Satyr Against Hypocrits_ (1655).
Introduction by Leon Howard.
_Prefaces to Fiction._ Second series. Selected with an
introduction by Charles Davies.
THOMAS WARTON: _A History of English Poetry: An Unpublished
Continuation_. Introduction by Rodney M. Baine.
Publications for the first six years (with the exception of
NOS. 1-6, which are out of print) are available at the rate of
$3.00 a year. Prices for individual numbers may be obtained by writing
to the Society.
* * * * *
THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY
_WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY_
2205 WEST ADAMS BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES 18, CALIFORNIA
Make check or money order payable to THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA.