of the Understanding sort to be far beyond any Foreign Writers in the Subject they handle whether French Spanish or Italian but what Barkley saith of the Scots may likewise be said of the Danes Germans and Hollanders Tycobrache is a Star of the first Magnitude Kepler Greiier Clavius Nostradamus are matchless But I think without the offence of any other Nation we may apply more particularly this Sentence to the English Literae nunquam se felicius habuerunt quam cum in Anglos inciderunt For the World is obliged to them for the best and newest discoveries iâ— Natural Philosophy Physick and Anatomy But the pitty is they write so much in their own Tongue that the less knowing sort of Forraigners abroad ask sometimes if there be any Learned Men in England because some Eminent Phisitians excepted few or none of them write in Latine the Universal Language There are several Excellent English Books that would prove a great increase of the publick good and the Honour of this Nation if they were translated into Latine by an accurate Polite Pen. Of this number I reckon the Works of most Divines and whatever the deservedly renowned Boyle has hitherto published the Whole Duty of Man and the Discourses of the Reverend Dr. Tillotson c. 2. I shall say nothing of another incomparable advantage that England has above most Nations of Europe I mean that Learned and Royal Society instituted for the promoting of Real Knowledge and the general Good of Mankind This is one of those Infinite Blessings this Nation received by his late Majesties happy Restauration who was the Head and first of this Assembly not only because of his Royal Prerogative and independency but likewise upon the account of his Princely Wit and Wisdom being not only in the opinion of all Europe a most wise Prince but in the Esteem of all such as have the Honour to approach his Sacred Person a most compleat Gentleman Likewise His Royal Brother our present King besides his Princely Virtues which as all the World knows he possesseth in a most High Degree is likewise deservedly esteemed in other particular respects 'T was observed at Edinburgh that none gave a more rational account than his Majesty of that wonderful Shower of Herrings that happened at the South of Scotland For whereas the most part had recourse to a certain Panspermia or universal seed of every thing spread every where which other necessary conditions concurring together might be improved into a living Creature his Majesty solv'd more rationally this Phaenomenon by certain Spouts of Water that happen sometimes at Sea wherein the small Herring being easily with the Help of a Whirlwind tossed up into the Air and carryed off in a thick Cloud fell down again not far from the Shoar As to the other Members of this Royal Society I think I do them no wrong if I say that the famous Boyle is the Chief Pillar thereof For his Name carries with it such a weight of Authority in Forraign Countries that I have heard some Eminent Men say that whatever he positively affirms in his Books is sure and evident Out of all this discourse we may raise to our purpose this self-evident Inference that Coelum atticum is no more an infallible Cause or Sign of Wit than Caelum Articum I mean that Wit is of all Nations though not perhaps of all Ages since some have bin extreamly dull as the Tenth for Instance and some likewise both fore and after Ages 3. Yea I think it no Paradox to say that the cold Climats are the fittest Soils for the producing of great Wits I conceive but two things necessary for the existency of what generally we understand by a great Wit first a Soul of the first or at least none of the lowest Hierarchy I mean one of a not ordinary perfection whereof I have discours'd at large in the Second Section Secondly A well temper'd Body furnished besides the necessary Organs with a great quantity of brisk and lively Spirits As to the former point I hope you will grant that 't is in the Power of the Almighty to create most perfect Souls in cold Climats as well as in hot Hence then you can pretend no advantage And for the latter 't is evident that that the Bodies in cold Climats are better tempered of a firmer Texture and fuller of brisk and lively Spirits than those of hotter Countries where men are commonly languishing faint and exhausted by a sensible dissipation of those few Spirits they live and move by They are then little acquainted with the World who affirm the purest Air to be the only Element for the subtilest Wits since we know by experience and 't is generally confessed by all Forraigners that the Scotch and the Irish who breath in no very thin Air are far subtiler disputants in Divinity Logick and such like Scholastick and Airy matters than either the Italians or the French I would then have Men to cease from gazing upon the Stars and not look upon the Celestial Influences as the only causes of those various Characters of Wit we observe in the World for there may be some more hidden Sources of acuteness and less reflected on Such I take to be the invisible Effluviums of the Earth For as the Famous Boyle acutely proves 't is most probable that they are the unheaded Causes of many Epidemical Distempers so I think it no less conformable to reason to say that they occasion likewise the good temper of the mind by contributing not a little towards the Health of the Body for since 't is most certain by daily experience that the Inhabitants of this Northern part of the World to whatever they apply themselves entirely become at length most eminent therein and do far exceed the rest of Mankind espceially in Learning Courage and all other Warlike Exploits we must needs confess there may be Corpuscles issuing out from the coldest Soil that mixing themselves thorow the Pores of the Body with the bloud give it such a Texture as is requisite to make it a fit Instrument for the most Spiritual Functions of the Souls I am so far from beleiving the vulgar Error or rather the vain conceit of some ancient Romans that those who are born in or near the cold Zones have few or none of those natural Gifts that make a true Virtuoso I am so far I say from beleiving such a gross and vulgar Error that I hold such to be the fittest men in the World for penetrating Airy and Subtile things and for doing great ones if they will be but at the pains when occasion serves to improve their Natural Talents For besides what I have said are not we beholden to the Northern Nations for the Noblest and best pieces of Art and Wit I mean those various and ingenious Engins relating to shipping lifting weighing c. invented for the Use and Conveniency of Mankind The Gunpowder the Guns and most of the Mathematical Instruments
he pretends from Reason So that by their principles they must hold it probable that there is no demonstration of a Soveraign Being which I look upon as a dangerous and a too bold Assertion 4. The only then profitable use of Wit in such matters of Religion as over-reach our weak Capacity consists in captivating our Understanding by an humble submission to the belief of the Universal Church As to other inferiour Subjects I know nothing fitter to improve our Intellectuals than the Study of natural Philosophy For it filleth not our Heads with vain and airy Notions with insignificant School Terms and Pedantick Niceties but aims at the promoting in us of real Knowledge Yet I am not so much out of conceit with the School Doctrine as to put no value upon it at all That part of it they call artificial Logick I apprehend not only to be useful but necessary for the quickning of our discoursing Faculty for I have always observed such as understand not the Art of a Syllogism or the Aristotalian Method of drawing Coherent Conclusions to raise often very illegal Inferences which you can scarce make them sensible of because being not acquainted with the general and particular Laws of a formal discourse they seldom distinguish between what is concluded vi formae as they speak and what is only concluded vi materiae I mean when a proposition is essentially true and because of its dependancy upon another and only accidentally or because of the Subject it expresseth Yet I am of opinion that the Analytick Method is to be preferr'd before the Syllogistick because besides that the former mean of analysie and resolution contains if well manag'd the Substance of the latter it bringeth along with it more Ornaments than is consistent with naked Enthimema's harsh Syllogysms I know not nevertheless if any of these Methods be fit for young Beginners for I incline much to think that our Imagination tho' generally stronger in our greener years than our Judgement yet being more various and changeable than in our Riper Days must needs first of all be brought to some degree of consistency which may easily be done by following the custom of some Antient Masters who would have their Scholars to learn first the Mathematicks as the easiest Principles and Demonstrations both of practical and speculative Geometry Not so much upon the account of the great Evidence of such Sciences as chiefly because they depend upon Figure and Proportion two things necessary and sufficient for the fixing of our inconstant Imaginations 5. I have no more to say of the use of Wit at present except what may regard our familiar and daily Conversations We are then to reflect with whom we have to do For if they be really our Masters in all sense or judged generally beyond the common reach whatever abilities we find our selves gifted with we must rather keep them close than display them vainly in their presence least we seem either to think too much of our selves or not enough of them To whom as occasion serves we ought to pay without flattery the Homage due to their grand Genius's If perchance we converse with those that we judge not superiour to our selves we may take more Freedom but if we are in Company of the duller sort we must conform our Discourses to their Capacity and not to our own For to behave our selves otherwise I mean to endeavour in our Converse with such men to say nothing but what carryeth along with it a certain Character of Wit and Sharpness would be a no less piece of Folly then as they commonly say Projicere Margaritas ante porcos to cast Pearls before Swine because they could neither digest nor be sensible of such a Spiritual Food I remember upon this occasion a passage of two Gentlemen who hearing a third say that an Embassadour was an Honourable Spy opposed warmly this expression as carrying in its Front an apparent Contradiction and that an honourable Spy could amount to nothing more than an Honourable Rogue Though they seem'd to be ingenious enough yet they could not be made sensible of their mistake nor conceive somewhat of Wit in this reflecting way of speaking and more Sense too than every mean Capacity is aware of SECT XII That great Wits are not at all times equally Witty 1. Several imperfections of great Wits and why they make not always use of their Wit 2. That our Passions are great obstacles to the exercise of our Wit 3. Some particular causes of our accidental dulness 4. A wholsom advice to Patients 5. The cause why sometimes they recover not or not so soon 6. Several notable defects observable in some famous Writers 7. An advice to such as write Books 1. AS I conceive nothing to be of a long continuance that may have an end so I think nothing in rigour perfect that contains not all Imaginable perfections I know not then why we should call any man perfect and not rather in compare to others less Imperfect since the imperfection of Mankind consists not only in the real want of several perfections but likewise in this that men are not always capable of making use of these great Abilities that God perhaps has bestowed liberally upon them which may and does frequently happen upon several accounts First because the perfectest Soul in the World is but of a limited Capacity and consequently cannot at all moments apply it self to every Object with an equal attention For Pluribus intentus minor est ad singula Sensus the more objects we consider of at once the less notice we take of each one in particular And if it be true that some of the Antients as Caesar if I misremember not could write speak and dictate at the same time sure I am he could perform neither of the three with that acuracy had he done either of them severally 'T is then the prerogative of a Soveraign being only to understand all things equally the perpetual contemplation of his own essence not hindring him from looking into the Secrets of our Hearts and weighing the least of our Thoughts Men then even the Wittyest sort by reason of their limited abilities when too much applyed to one object seem to forget all others And thus discovering their own Weakness become sometimes a Subject of laughter and sport to those they chance to converse with St. Thomas deservedly called the Angel of the School was look't upon as very dull and simple when at the Emperors Table he broke out on a suddain into these words Conclusum est contra Manacheos the Conviction of the Manichees Or it s concluded against the Minachees which though reported by some as a sign of his profound Wit and great Capacity I take in the quite contrary to be an infallible mark of a very limited Genius as not being capable of performing two things at the same time But the most observable deficiency of those Men we esteem great Wits lies here that they are
else but an inferiour sort of Reason and in some particulars far below that of the more perfect and rational Creatures they were only guilty of a wilful and affected obscurity But if they intended by this harsh Word an entire exclusion of all true reasoning they pretend more than ever they did or could well prove as I could easily demonstrate if it had not been done by others They were in vain afraid already that if they granted once the use of Reason to other Inferiour Creatures they should not be sufficiently distinguished themselves and far enough removed from their Condition as if besides Shape and Speech the different degrees of Reason could not make a separation wide enough between Men and Beasts For though 't is most true that Simia quicquid agat simia erit a Beast at the best will always be but a Beast Yet I never understood why we should deny some share both of Reason and Wit to several of those inferiour Creatures that do things we can neither imitate nor account for without granting them in some measure this reasoning faculty we would feign Monopolize to our selves I would not then stile him an Extravagant who should conceive as much Reason and Wit in an Ape a Dog Fox and Elephant as in some Men though not meer Fools However no man can deny what chiefly I here aim at that Wit is not the Prerogative of Mankind alone A Spiders Web in my conceit is no less if not more ingeniously contrived than the Weaver's I conceive in a Honey Comb with Pleasure and Admiration a very acurate and regular piece of Fortification the wonderful Texture and groundless Foundation of a Swallows Nest do represent to me more art than ever I could be yet sensible of in the structure of the greatest Louvers SECTION II. The Causes of Wit 1. Two different Opinions concerning the diversity of Wit in Men. 2. That it is not occasioned by the respectively greater perfection of the Organs 3. That one Soul is really perfecter than another 4. Some curious enquirys relating to this proposition answered 5. What things may contribute towards the promoting of Wit 6. That we cannot improve our Wit beyond the innate perfection of our Souls 1. WE are taught in the Schools that all diversity of Wit in Men does originally spring from that of their Organs I suck't in this Doctrine in my greener years and beleived it a while as many others of greater moment which I have bid a farewel to since in a riper Age For being naturally curious and not very credulous I began to shake off by degrees a certain implicate Faith I had been for several years too much enslaved to having more than once in my ordinary solitude and retired thoughts Neque enim cum me aut porticus accepit aut lectulus desum mihi called my self to an account upon what grounds I had so long stood up for such a vulgar Error I found them all to be moveable unstable and groundless and first I thought I was neither conformable to reason nor common Sence to think that a Soul free from matter and Mortality as I conceived mine to be should entirely depend upon a Body both material and Mortal especially as to its Chief and most perfect Operarions as undoubtedly those of the Wit are I had another more powerful Inducement not to shake hands with this Opinion and bid it adieu which was that I remembred to have been familiarly acquainted with several both at home and abroad who had no visible defect in the Organs of their Bodies and yet were most deficient as to the endowments of the Mind And on the contrary I have known not a few who if you regard only their out-side may look upon Nature as a cruel Step-mother as having received from her no sensible marks of a Motherly Benevolence yet if taing them by another Byass you consider their Abilities you shall I am perswaded instantly confess that they are more obliged to Nature or God rather than most of those who have received in a larger measure those exteriour Ornaments and Gifts of Beauty For why may we not reckon the sharpness of their Wit and other advantages of their Souls to be more a sufficient Compensation for some outward Imperfections of their Bodies Thus it happens sometimes that Blind Men are clearer sighted than many of those who make use of both their Eyes I had the luck to to be acquainted with one of this Number in Germany whom I judged the most extemporary Wit I ever met with I remember I was once curious to know what he thought of Black Red White and other Colours his answer was he fram'd to himself the same idea of such things that we frame to our selves of occult qualities 2. Thus all things impartially weighed on each side I could not ascribe those differences and manifold degrees of Wit we observe among the generality of Men to any other Cause with a greater appearance of Truth than to the different perfections of their Souls For meditating sometimes upon the grounds of this common Word quantum homo homini praestat how much one man surpasseth another in Vivacity sharpness penitrancy and other intellectual Endowments I was inclined to believe some things among those Imperfect Spirits for such are the Souls of Men as being each of them but a part of the whole Man answerable to what Divinity will needs have us to admit among those perfect Spirits we call Angels I was inclined I say to think that there are different Species or Hierarchies of Souls as well as of other created Spirits For I conceive an Angel and I believe the School Divines will not give me the lye to be farther distant from the perfection of a Cherubim or Seraphim than a Lyon or any other inferiour Creature is from that of a Man Now the reason of this great variety in that superiour Spiritual Nature establisheth the same or not an unlike one in the Souls of Men. The Divines then say that if God had created but one sort of things or one single Species he had not given us so very Illustrious Marks of his Power and Wisdom and consequently had bin less glorifyed by us Undoubtedly then a Specifical variety of Spirits as they speak in the Schools must needs be a greater manifestation of his Glory than to borrow this other Scholastick Expression a meer numerical one We may discourse after the same manner of our Souls For as the great diversity of Bodies furnisheth us with a nobler Idea of Gods Power than if he had created but one kind or all of one Texture so if I suppose different Species and Hierarchies of Souls as of Angels I frame no doubt a higher conceit of his perfections Yet notwithstanding all this you shall not be allowed hence to infer that there are different Species of Men For this Denomination we take from what is most obvious to our Senses that is from the Bodies In which we can
observe no such difference as we may easily take notice of between a Horse and a Lion a Lion an Ape and a Bird c. this Doctrine will raise in our minds a great Respect and Veneration for Men of greater Abilities than we know our selves to be of for we shall conceive their Souls are in a higher order as indeed they are and consequently pay to them a due and proportionable Homage as Angels do Honour and Esteem Archangels and Archangels likewise Powers Thrones c. But I must needs here for your further satisfaction answer some curious inquiries about this matter 1. How comes it to pass that a most perfect Soul is sometimes lodged in a most defectuous Body I answer this happens against the intention of Nature for Nature delights in proportion and reason teacheth us there should be some proportion between the Beauty of the Soul and that of the Body it lodgeth in as the Stateliest Pallaces are ordinarily the dwelling places of the greatest Princes 2. Are not the noblest Souls more ordinarily lodged in beautiful Bodies I answer they are for the reason above mentioned and 't is by accident if perhaps the contrary happeneth But these are the solutions of a meer Naturalist or of one that favours too much Nature I answer then in Second Instance we must search after the true cause of such surprizing contingencies in the first cause of all things I mean in God himself who may do and does sometimes what to our weak Judgements Nature neither seems to desire nor require 3. Doth it never happen that a Soul of the first or second Order that is a most perfect one is so disabled during its stay in a corruptible Body as never to discover its natural abilities I answer 't is not likely that such a case shou'd ever happen or if it does this is as I was saying before against the intention of Nature tho' not of the Author of Nature and a meer chance occasion'd by some considerable defect of our Organs which the Soul how perfect soever is not able to supply because it wants a fit and convenient matter to work upon But hence some that take notice but of few things and consequently are easily mistaken may conclude the contrary of what I intend to assert that the various degrees of Wit depend on the diversity of our Organs which cannot be Lawfully inferred from what I have said for as if we place the most imperfect Soul that is one of the Lowest Order in the most compleat Body can be imagined it shall never for all this transcend its own dull nature and by consequence shall operate but very imperfectly so if we conceive the Noblest Soul that ever God created in a Body most imperfect that is destitute of necessary Organs or having but the Rudiments of true Organs it shall never do what otherwise it had been able to perform because it cannot discover to us its abilities in this Life but by these material instruments nor operate to any perfection they be wanting or notably defective Which argued only Imperfection iâ— the Instruments not in the principaâ— Agent Thus the defects we observâ— in a meer fool are not really in hiâ— Soul but occasioned by the overthrow of those parts of his Body without which he cannot utter himself rationally Whensoever then perceive by all the most visible sign of Health and good Texture twâ— Bodies equally Sound Perfect anâ— Acomplisht and yet a notable difference between the two Persons tâ— whom those Bodies belong a notablâ— difference I say as to their Intellectuals I mean Judgement Sence Sharpness and Wit I conclude instantly without further deliberation anâ— perhaps without Error too that the one hath a Soul of a Lower Rank and the other of a Higher 3. Yet I acknowledge willingly there may be other Inferiour Causes that contribute not a litle to the increase of Wit For how perfect soever we conceive the Soul to be she requires still the help both of Vital and Animal Spirits And if these be but too few or not lively enough you shall find her slow dull and heavy 'T is not then an unwholsome Advice to all such as are sensible they have received from above Animam bonam a not very imperfect Soul to conserve with all possible care the necessary Instruments of her most Spiritual Operations I mean not to consume by excessive Venery excessive Drink or any other kind of Surfeit those Spirits without which their Souls though never so perfect will act but very imperfectly and far below that degree of perfection God hath allowed them Upon this account a sober Dyet or temperate Life is the best Preserver both of Wit and Health for nothing more true than this common Word Vinum moderate sumptum acuit ingenium Wine doth not only strengthen the Stomack but likewise quickens the Spirits if moderately made use of as on the contrary it weakens the Stomack and darkens the Understanding if taken excessively or beyond a proportionable measure 4. There is as yet another greater Promoter of Wit we must not forget which is to converse often and keep Company with those that are really Ingenious and Witty For though your Soul perhaps be of the highest Hierarchy yet it moves not it self easily unless it be first moved it must then be rouz'd up and awakened by the Company of those who can insensibly improve those real Talents God has vouchsafed to bestow upon it For as we may boldly judge of a Mans Temper or good Humour of his good or bad Morals if once we are informed what Company he most frequents so likewise we may guess at his intellectuals by the Capacity and Abilities of such as he is most conversant with For experience has taught us more than once that ingenious Men become at length dull and heavy by frequenting too much the duller sort whereof I think this account may be given without some shew of probability Ingenious Men have need of some considerable encouragement to display those Talents they have received from above Now neither esteeming nor valuing much the Esteem of mean Capacities they fall in a manner in a certain Lethargy and are not able to rouze up their Spirits for want of sufficient inducements And this often happening begets in them a habit they cannot easily be afterwards rid of 5. On the contrary nothing improves us more than a frequent converse with the wittiest sort as daily Experience sheweth and the custome of the Ancient Phylosophers who travelled all the World over to see and hear the Learnedst Men of their times which example is followed in this very age we live in by most Nations of Europe the Scots especially and the Germans and by the English of late who for the most part become not only smoother and more polite by their travelling into Forreign Countries but sharper too and Wittier as every one may easily observe who will be at the pains to compare a meerly home-bread Gentleman with
We run yet much more counter to reason and the Subordination that God has established in this World when we presume to set up for Judges of our Soveraign or dare to question upon what account he does this or that issue out this or that Order as if we understood better than he the Publick Interest which God has entrusted to him not to us We shall never then be useful Members to the Common-wealth we make a part of unless we keep within the bounds of our Respective Stations 'T is then safe and a greater piece of Wit in a Tradesman for instance to mind his business and Domestick conâ—erns rather than to asperse thâ— Government by his malicious reflections or which is yet worse to writ seditious Pamphlets and calumniatory Libels in opposition to his Superiours Such Men have a great account to render one day to God for this disorderly use of their Wit I conceive the Devil himself with his Hellish Tribe to be but in one point worse than those troublesom Spirits that he is not capable of Repentance But I need not enlarge on this Subject since to the great advantage of the established Government 't is daily handled with so much accuracy by that very ingenious and truly Loyal Gentleman Sir Roger L' Estrange SECT XI The use of Wit 1. That Wit is sometimes the occasion of great disorders 2. That a witty man may live happily in a solitude 3. That the common word Man is a sociable Animal is only to be understood of the duller sort 4. The Duty of a Christian 5. That the clear light of Reason may contribute somewhat towards the increase of the dark Light of Faith 6. Divine revelation to be proposed by and received from the Vniversal Church 7. The vulgar Error that of three Phisitians two are Atheists confuted 8. The foresaid Reproach pressed home to some Divines especially to those of the Romish Church with a greater appearance of Truth 9. The usefulness of natural Philosophy and the best method of Learning 10. That we must conform our Discourse to those we converse with and not make an affected show of Wit before the duller Sort. 1. IT may be a Paradox though no untruth that Wit is the worst of Gods Gifts bestowed upon Mankind if we Judge a thing bad that either is the occasion or cause of evil and mischief For it is not only the Headwel of Rebellion Sedition and Heresie which we may easily discover whether we reflect upon our times or by a start backwards take a view of the foregoing Ages but 't is also the Inventer of those innumerable Engins made use of by men for the Ruine of Mankind under pretence either of a necessary defence or just attack Yet as by Malice or misapplication it may be a fit Instrument for evil so if we turn it once the right way it may prove the most useful as undoubtedly it is the most shining participation of the Divine Nature And I know not why Aristotle said that a Man who can live in a retired solitude must be either a God or a Beast Since for this I conceive nothing else requisite but a not too narrow Wit For Spiritualis homo omnia judicat the Spiritual Man that 's the Witty discerns and makes use of every thing Of such an one 'tis truly said Nunquam minus solus quam cum solus that he is never in better company than when he is with no body for then in his retired Thoughts he calls himself to an account and examines severely all his own actions thoughts and Words I know not then whereupon 't is grounded that a Man is a sociable Animal and loves to live together with his like in Nature and Shape For I have always observed the wittyest sort of men to delight more in their retired Solitudes than in the greatest Crouds If this common Maxim be not a vulgar Error as I believe 't is none it cannot be understood but of the duller Sort who being once alone are in all sense alone and with no body because they are no Company to themselves I mean they know not how to play the time away with what either is within or without themselves But such as can act the Philosophers part with whatever they see feel or touch do neither need or incline much to converse except perhaps those that are of a no less or rather of greater Abilities than themselves Nay Books to such men are not necessary Companions in their Retirements For they can want their Company too though not so well as that of Men. One of these three they are always conversant with themselves God or the Obvious Works of his Power that are without us I conceive not 't is true what God is for how should he be what he is if I could comprehend him yet I may apprehend him to be a being infinitely perfect that is to say whose perfections are numberless I need not then if I please want a Subject to think on when alone if considering apart those perfections one after another I measure as far as I can reach their dimensions their length their breadth and their depth So I shall now meditate upon his Power and then contemplate the strange effects thereof in the works of the Creation which I shall always conceive infinitely below what he could have done or may yet do I shall again represent to my self though very imperfectly the brightness of his Glory in the Sun Moon and Stars his constancy in the Earth his activity in the Fire the depth of his Essence in the bottomless Seas and the least of his Creatures shall be unto me a fair Copy of his Wisdom Goodness and other Perfections 2. But if I make no other use of my Wit than this I am but a meer Moralist and not a Christian for as such I must lay aside my Philosophy and believe what I conceive not upon the infallible Authority of an obscure Revelation Nevertheless tho' my Religion forbids me to play the Philosopher yet if I pretend to a rational belief I presume nothing against its true Maxims As I look then upon the meer light of Faith to be somewhat dark so I know the light of reason to be somewhat clearer May not I then joyn those two Lights together and make perhaps a greater one of them both I believe the mystery of the Trinity though I comprehend it not I think it not unlawful to slatter my own Weakness with the discovery of some Rudiments thereof in my Soul as being one in Nature and threefold in Operation I mean as having three distinct Faculties the Memory Understanding and Will The Incarnation is above the reach of an Angelical Understanding The Angels themselves by the meer light of Nature could not but judge it impossible 'T is a strange Metamorphosis that faith only teacheth me to be real Stile me not nevertheless quite impertinent if for my own satisfaction I endeavour to perswade to my self the
Sun the debate between Ajax and Vlisses c. I admire nothing more in Lucan than the unevenness of his Style he flies high and on a suddain low again in the same Page and sometimes in the same Verse you shall read none so elevated upon some occasions and none so flat on other rencounters Claudian and he are near of a Temper Livy by his long and Minute narratives wears out his own Wit and the Readers patience His best pieces in my Judgement are his Harangues or those senseful Speaches he puts in the Mouths of Statesmen and great Captains I have had also a great Veneration for Cicero yet I am very sensible that he is not himself upon all occasions I find few of his Plea's so well penn'd as that he made in defence of Milo He knows not what he would be at in his Book de Natura Deorum and his best Interpreters I fancy as Esâ—alâ—pier c. and others do but guess at his meaning As to the Accuracy and Politeness of Expression he 's every where the same and the best Master of the Latine Tongue Aristotle is beyond envy it self tho not every where beyond reach the new Philosophers speak more distinctly and give more sensible Notions of most things His best Pieces I take to be his artificial Logic or Art of arguing conformably to certain infallible Rules his Politicks his Poetry his Rethorick and his Morals He is a very Obscure Metaphysitian because he handled such matters as are beyond the reach of Humane Understanding and thought it not enough to say that every thing was this or that by a various Texture but would needs further enquire into the Properties of the compounding parts whether they were Finite or Infinite obnoxious to an endless division or not c. Thus he proposeth to us palpable and intelligible difficulties but very obstruse mysterious and unsatisfactory solutions What I have said of the Antients I may likewise say of our Modern Wits For there are but few of 'em eminent in every thing and most of them eminent in nothing But I must not end this Section without giving you some rational account of this unevenness observable in most may Authors First then we have recourse to that common answer to all such difficulties the limitation of humane Capacity but because this is too general I shall say something no less to the purpose and more particular I may be allowed then to say in Second Instance that our own indiscretion is commonly the cause of this disorder For as we never write wittily but when our Imagination is exalted to a certain degree of heat destructive to our cold dulness so when our Spirits are spent by a long and serious application it would then prove a piece of prudence in us to lay aside our Pen and meditate no more on the Subject till we recover our lost Spirits and first vigour I believe Vigil kept this Precept since he spent neer Thirty years in the composure of his Poem but our Folly is such that black paper we must though our Soul be not able to act its part because of the supposed want of Necessary Instruments furnishing us with as lively Idea's as before Which fancyful Humour I apprehend to be the true Cause why we write not always so well as really we could have done if we had broken off our work till the return of our better temper and disposition Whereof I find a not unfit Analogy in a Subject somewhat like to that we now treat of I see no other cause of the great difference as to Wit among Children of the same Parents but because the latter observe not the fittest times for the act of generation coming together when their Seeds are either yet raw or not so elaborated and spirituous as is requisite So if marryed People understood the critical and fittest Minute for this duty of Marriage or would contain themselves so long as they were not fit for it they would undoubtedly be more satisfied with their Children than some of them have reason to be because I fancy the former would not be so unlike one another as to the endowments of the Mind We may proportionably discourse at the same rate of our Spiritual Children our Writings They may all resemble one another in not unlike stains of Wit if we manage our selves aright in conceiving of them SECT XIII The art of writing wittily 1. Why some do speak ill and write well and some do write ill and speak well 2. That we ought first to consider before we undertake to write if the Subject be not beyond our natural Abilities 3. What use we are to make of Authors That we wrong our selves by not perusing our own Wit 4. That some are profest Robbers of other Mens Works as several Germans and other subtile Thieves as not a few French undoubtedly are 5. That we must not be too positive in our assertions 6. Aristotle's obscurity instanc'd in some few examples 1. IT may be thought not out of purpose to enquire in this place why some do speak ill and write well and on the contrary why others speak well and write ill The difficulty I confess is considerable and I am not fully resolved in the case Yet it may be said that this proceeds from some of the different Characters of Wit we have spoken of elsewhere For some are slow in conceiving because perhaps they have a too weak Understanding and fear too much to be mistaken so their utterance upon this account is very uneasie and such speak their Thoughts so imperfectly that one would think they had but a very superficial Understanding Nevertheless they are sometimes excellent Pen-Men and the fittest Men in the World to appear in Print because the uneasiness of their utterance comes rather from a certain wariness and Weakness perhaps too of the Imagination than from any real defect of Judgement But as for those that speak well and write ill if by this expression we mean that some do speak great Sense who cannot write sensefully I think I may be allowed to say that there is no such thing possible For whosoever can speak Sence I know not why he may not likewise couch it upon Paper if he please But if perchance we understand by speaking well and wittily a certain facility easiness of expression the Volubility of the Tongue or a certain show of Eloquence without either great Sence or acuteness there are I confess many half-witted Men and more yet of the Weaker Sex that speak well though they write not wittily because of the shallowness of their Judgement which is rather a help than a hindrance to their talkative humour especially if they have as commonly they want it not any quickness of Fancy For such People 't is no less useless to prescribe Rules of writing wittily than to teach Fools how to speak to the purpose 2. The first Precept then of this art I conceive to be no other but the