Curiofity is, in great and generous minds, the first paffion and the laft; and perhaps always predominates in proportion to the ftrength of the contemplative faculties. He who eafily comprehends all that is before him, and foon exhaufts any fingle fubject, is always eager for new enquiries; and in proportion as the intellectual eye takes in a wider profpect, it must be gratified with variety by more rapid flights, and bolder excurfions; nor perhaps can there be propofed to those who have been accustomed to the pleasures of thought, a more powerful incitement to any undertaking, than the hope of filling their fancy with new images, of clearing their doubts, and enlightening their reafon. When fajon, in Valerius Flaccus, would incline the young prince Acaftus to accompany him in the first essay of navigation, he difperfes his apprehenfions of danger by reprefentations of the new tracts of earth and heaven which the expedition would spread before their eyes; and tells him with what grief he will hear, at their return, of the countries which they shall have seen, and the toils which they have furmounted. O quantum terræ, quantum cognofcere cœli, Permiffum eft! pelagus quantes aperimus in ufus! Led by our stars, what tracts immenfe we trace! A pain to thought but when th' heroick band A life domeftick you will then deplore, And figh, while I defcribe the various fhore. EDW.CAVE. Acaftus Acaftus was foon prevailed upon by his curiofity to fet rocks and hardships at defiance, and commit his life to the winds; and the fame motives have in all ages had the fame effect upon those whom the defire of fame or wifdom has diftinguished from the lower orders of mankind. If therefore it can be proved that diftress is neceffary to the attainment of knowledge, and that a happy fituation hides from us fo large a part of the field of meditation, the envy of many who repine at the fight of affluence and fplendor will be much diminished; for fuch is the delight of mental fuperiority, that none on whom nature or study have conferred it, would purchafe the gifts of fortune by its lofs. It is certain, that however the rhetorick of Seneca may have dreffed adverfity with extrinsick ornaments, he has juftly reprefented it as affording fome opportunities of obfervation, which cannot be found in continual fuccefs; he has truly afferted, that to efcape misfortune is to want inftruction, and that to live at eafe is to live in ignorance. As no man can enjoy happinefs without thinking that he enjoys it, the experience of calamity is neceffary to a juft fenfe of better fortune; for the good of our prefent ftate is merely comparative, and the evil which every man feels will be fufficient to difturb and harafs him, if he does not know how much he efcapes. The luftre of diamonds is invigorated by the interpofition of darker bodies; the lights of a picture are created by the fhades. The higheft pleafure which nature has indulged to fenfitive perception, is that of reft after fatigue; yet yet that state which labour heightens into delight, is of itself only eafe, and is incapable of fatisfying the mind without the fuperaddition of diversified amufements. Prosperity, as is truly afferted by Seneca, very much obftructs the knowledge of ourselves. No man can form a just estimate of his own powers by unactive fpeculation. That fortitude which has encountered no dangers, that prudence which has furmounted no difficulties, that integrity which has been attacked by no temptations, can at beft be confidered but as gold not yet brought to the teft, of which therefore the true value cannot be affigned. He that traverses the lifts without an adverfary, may receive, fays the philofopher, the reward of victory, but be has no pretenfions to the honour. If it be the highest happiness of man to contemplate himself with fatisfaction, and to receive the gratulations of his own confcience, he whofe courage has made way' amidst the turbulence of oppofition, and whose vigour has broken through the fnares of diftrefs, has many advantages over those that have flept in the fhades of indolence, and whofe retrofpect of time can entertain them with nothing but day rifing upon day, and year gliding after year. Equally neceffary is fome variety of fortune to a nearer inspection of the manners, principles, and affections of mankind. Princes, when they would know the opinions or grievances of their subjects, find it neceffary to steal away from guards and attendants, and mingle on equal terms among the people, To him who is known to have the power of of doing good or harm, nothing is fhown in its natural form. The behaviour of all that approach him is regulated by his humour, their narratives are adapted to his inclination, and their reafonings determined by his opinions; whatever can alarm fufpicion, or excite refentment, is carefully fuppreffed, and nothing appears but uniformity of fentiments and ardor of affection. It may be obferved that the unvaried complaifance which ladies have the right of exacting, keeps them generally unskilled in human nature; profperity will always enjoy the female prerogatives, and therefore must be always in danger of female ignorance. Truth is fcarcely to be heard, but by thofe from whom it can ferve no intereft to conceal it. NUMB. 151. TUESDAY, August 27, 1751. ̓Αμφὶ δ ̓ ἀνθρώπ των φρεσὶν αμπλακίαι τα φέρτατον ἀνδρὶ τυχεῖν. But wrapt in error is the human mind, TH PIND. WEST. HE writers of medicine and phyfiology have traced, with great appearance of accuracy, the effects of time upon the human body, by marking the various periods of the conftitution, and the feveral stages by which animal life makes its progrefs from infancy to decrepitude. Though their obfervations have not enabled them to discover how manhood may be accelerated, or old age retarded, yet furely, if they be confidered only as the amufements of curiofity, they are of equal importance with conjectures on things more remote, with catalogues of the fixed ftars, and calculations of the bulk of planets. It had been a task worthy of the moral philofophers to have confidered with equal care the climactericks of the mind; to have pointed out the time at which every paffion begins and ceafes to predominate, and noted the regular variations of defire, and the fucceffion of one appetite to another. |