Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n
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A33913
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Miscellanies upon moral subjects by Jeremy Collier ...
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Collier, Jeremy, 1650-1726.
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1695
(1695)
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Wing C5257; ESTC R7117
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78,515
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191
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on 't He has no Hand at Blushing for want of Practise And acts Modesty with so ill a Grace that he is more ridiculous in the Habit of Vertue than in that of Vice To go on with him a little farther One of this Character is like an Out-landish Show most admired at first Sight He has Gloss but without either Fineness or Substance And therefore like Cloath ill made he looks better in the Shop than he wears in the Suit In a word He is the Jest of wise Men and the Idol of Fools And commonly his Patent runs for his Life-time OF ENVY ENvy is a Displeasure for some supposed Advantage in another The Object of this Passion is something Desirable And though Excellency precisely considered cannot occasion Dislike yet Excellency misplaced may The Envious believes himself eclipsed by the Lustre of his Neighbour That which is good in it self becomes an Evil to him which makes him wish it either Removed or Extinguished The Discovery of the Rise and Unreasonableness of Envy and the way to prevent being either Active in it or Passive under it will comprehend the Argument To begin with the first Envy lies mostly between Beings equal in Nature though unequal in Circumstances We don't envy Brutes though they exceed us in many Respects not inconsiderable No Body is angry with a Bird because she can Fly We are not offended with the Strength of an Elephant or the Speed of a Horse or with a Dog for having a better Nose than his Master These are all foreign Commodities they are not look'd on as the Growth of our Soil which makes them neither Expected nor Desired Besides we excel these Creatures in other Qualitys more valuable So that upon the whole Comparison we remain their Superiours which is sufficient to lay our Envy asleep On the other hand Men are not subject to repine at the higher Condition of an Angel They know there is a comparative Disadvantage in their first Composition The Model of Humanity was Drawn less Our Capacities if they were all fill'd are not large enough to hold so much Happiness To this I may add That the Angelick Grandeur is seldom seen By being thus conceal'd it does not awaken our Poverty nor mortify our Littleness so much as if it was always display'd before us And lastly our Hopes of rising to this Height hereafter makes us bear our present Inferiority well enough But where the Essential Properties are alike Pretensions are apt to Mount unless seasonably check'd I am crys the Envious of the same Nature with the Rest and why then should such a Man Top me Where there is an Equality of Kind there should be no Distinction of Privilege I am as near of Kin to God Almighty as the Best and he is certainly the Noblest Ancestor I am cast in the same Mould made up of the same Matter and stamp'd with the same Impression and why should I not pass equally in general Esteem In taking Gold and Silver 't is not enquired what Mines they came from nor how long they have been dig'd If they answer the Qualities of the Metal that 's enough Why then should one Piece of human Nature be thought so much worse than another since it keeps within the Species and shines true upon the Touch-stone In answer to this Expostulation I shall only say That though the Metal is the same yet the Figure the Quantity and the Fineness is often different which makes a Difference in the Value To proceed Those antiently possess'd of Honour are apt to envy others newly raised The reason is This later Promotion takes away the former Difference between the Persons The Singularity of a Man's Greatness is in some measure destroy'd He has fewer to look down upon than he had before He has lost an Inferiour which without being well considered will make him uneasy like a Prince who has part of his Dominions won from him But this Practice how common soever is unreasonable where the later Rise is creditable For all Quality that is good for any thing is originally founded upon Merit Now when a Man purchases Honour at as great an Expence of Deserving as my self why should not his Title be as good And if so why should I grudge him the Possession To value Worth in my self or my Family and over-look it in another is plain Partiality and Partiality is always Injustice When Two start into the World together he that is thrown behind unless his Mind proves generous will be displeased with the other For the Success of the first seems to press upon the Reputation of the later For what will the World say Why could not he hold up What made him come on so heavily but that he wanted either Management or Metal With submission this Inference is not good and therefore one should not grow Peevish about it Success does not always attend Desert Sometimes Favour and Opportunity and Fortune run most on one Side Sometimes a Man cracks his Conscience as a Horse does his Wind by straining up the Hill But if the Advantage was fairly gained 't is unbecoming to complain If my Friend charges in the Post of Honour while I am sleeping in my Tent 't is great Injustice to envy him the Reward of his Bravery In all likelihood I brought all my Limbs out of the Bed which 't is probable he has not done off the Breach And if he has his Merit should not be lessen'd by his good Fortune He that hazards his Life upon an honourable Score deserves the same Regard as if he had lost it Envy among Persons of the same Trade is common The Competition of Interest occasions this Malevolence They Glean up Custom from their Neighbours and so what one gets the other loses But why should I grudge a Man the common Advantage of his Employment Why should I desire more than my Share of Business and be sorry to see another thrive by his Industry Here can be nothing but Covetousness at the bottom and that is never to be satisfied However it must be granted that all Concurrences of this Nature whether for Money Favour or Power are in danger of being displeased with a fortunate Rival The Pinch lyes here The Matter in competition is often Indivisible An Office or a Mistress can't be Apportion'd out like Common and shared among distinct Proprietors The Case is like a Lottery with one Prize a single Ticket is only enrich'd and the rest are all Blanks So that they 'll tell you 't is not so much ill Nature as Disappointment which Sowres the Humour Where the Objects of Desire are more Communicative there is no Exceptions taken People don't like a Prospect the worse because others have the Pleasure of it They are seldom disturb'd because their Neighbours hear the same Musick or smell the same Perfumes with themselves For here is enough for them all The Satisfaction is so noble that it spreads without Lessening 't is not the thinner for
Quality that the Pleasure of Expectation exceeds that of Fruition It Refines upon the Richness of Nature and Paints beyond the Life And when the Reality is thus out-shined by the Imagination Success is a kind of Disappointment and to Hope is better than to Have Besides Hope has a creditable Complexion It throws a generous Contempt upon ill Usage and looks like a handsom Defiance of a Misfortune As who should say You are somewhat troublesome now but I shall conquer you afterwards And thus a Man makes an honourable Exit if he does nothing farther His Heart Beats against the Enemy when he is just Expiring and Discharges the last Pulse in the Face of Death But Despair makes a despicable Figure and descends from a mean Original 'T is the Off-spring of Fear of Laziness and Impatience It argues a defect of Spirits and Resolution and oftentimes of Honesty too After all the Exercise of this Passion is so troublesome that methinks nothing but Dint of Evidence and Demonstration should force it upon us I would not despair unless I knew the irrevocable Decree was past Unless I saw my Misfortune Recorded in the Book of Fate and Signed and Sealed by Necessity Indeed where the Act is unmanly or the Expectation immoral or contradictious to the Attributes of God we ought to drop our Hopes or rather never entertain them And therefore I would neither Hope to play the Fool or the Knave or be Immortal But when the Object is defensible and fair I would not quit my Hold as long as it was within the Reach of Omnipotence What then must we Hope without Means Yes why not When we cannot work them out of our own Industry Pray what Means was there to make the World with There was neither Timber nor Tools to raise the Building and yet you see what a noble Pile it is Why should we suppose a Miracle so strange a Thing since Nature herself was produced this way He that made Second Causes can as easily work without as with them Quicquid Dii voluere peractum est To Will and to Do is the same Thing with an Almighty Power If we could Cure a Fever with a Wish Decree up a House and make what we would consequent upon Inclination In such a Case we need not tye our selves to Application and Materials The bare Fiat of our Will would give Birth to the Idea And make it start out into Existence without any more ado To use the Ministrations of subordinate Causes looks like a Going about For where there is Matter and Motion there must in humane Apprehension be Succession of Parts and Resistance and Time for the Performance The Powers of Nature seem too Heavy to keep Pace with Thought and to drive out an Instantaneous Production So that one would almost imagine the Acting by immediate Omnipotence was the most disencumber'd as well as the most magnificent Method But is it not extravagant to expect a Miracle Not at all I believe we are assisted with many more Miracles than we are aware of For the purpose A Man in a Storm prays that he may escape being Wreckt I desire to know whether he thinks it possible for him to be the better for his Devotions If he does not he is an impertinent Atheist for using them If he does he must believe that Providence will interpose and disarm Nature or divert her Violence Now to check Second Causes in their Career to change their Motion or lay them Asleep before they are Spent is no less a Miracle than to Act without them Let no Man therefore disquiet himself about the Future nor quit a just Undertaking out of Despondency Honest People ought to be chearful if it was only for the Credit of their Vertue Let us not grow Melancholick upon a superficial View of Things for that is as far as we can discover 'T is a much better way to do our own Parts carefully and rest the Event with God Almighty OF COVETOUSNESS BETWEEN Demeas and Mitias Dem. I Thought I should have Dined with you to Day what made you fail your usual Eating-house Mit. I ask your Excuse I have been at a Miser's Feast I went thither to entertain my Curiosity rather than my Palat for you know that is a Sight which is not every day to be met with Dem. And was it as great as the Proverb makes it Mit. Every jot I have not had my Senses so regaled this long time 'T was so inviting that I 'm afraid the Founder has taken a Surfeit Dem. You mean of the Expence Fear it not he will have a Lent after his Carnival that will cure him Mit. This Fit of Feasting comes upon him once a Year If you did not know him you 'd think it was an Ague he looks so desperately Pale and Thin for a great while after And now as you say he will go into a Course of Abstinence but I wish we could prevent the return of the Distemper for in my Opinion he is well neither Full nor Fasting In short The Disease lies in his Mind and how to reach it with a Recipe I can't tell for Covetousness is generally incurable Dem. I own 't is difficulty removed and uncreditable into the bargain and therefore I hope you will not Report it upon any Person unless the Symptoms are very clear and undisputed Give me Leave to tell you there are often great Mistakes in this Matter Some think to screen their own Profuseness from Censure by reproaching the Frugality of their Neighbours And others pronounce rashly out of Ignorance With their good Favour wise Men will look beyond their Nose and take care of the main Chance and provide for Accidents and Age. They know that Poverty is unfashionable and Dependance uneasy and that a generous Mind cannot live upon Curtesy with any great Relish Besides some People do not decline Expence out of Parsimony but because they do not care for the Trouble of a Figure They do not care to be crowded with Visitors to have their Table pestered with Flies and Flatterers and to be always yoked in Ceremony They don't believe any Master the more considerable by keeping a great many idle People about him or that any true Greatness can be made out of that which is Little And because a Man is willing to have his House and his Head cool and to keep his Time and his Liberty to himself must he be called Covetous upon this Account Mit. I have no Intention to condemn a just Value for Money And if any Man has more Sense and Sobriety than his Neighbours I think it great Injustice to burlesque his Prudence or represent him in any Character of Disadvantage But then I must say That some People have the Misfortune to fall into the Extremes and that Covetousness does not lie only in Satyr and Speculation Dem. I perceive you have a Mind to say something upon this Argument With the Precautions above-mentioned I am willing to