rather in myself. And yet I do not think it a Fault, if, as Men do with other Sciences not near so profitable, I communicate what I have learned in this Point, though I am not much pleased with the Progress I have made in it. There is no Description so difficult, nor really fo useful, as that of a Man's self; and, withal, a Man must adjust, adorn, and fet himself off to the best Advantage, to appear in Public. Now I am perpetually doing this, for I am incessantly defcribing myself. Whether tis Vanity for a Man to speak fincerely of him felf. Custom has made all Speaking of a Man's Self vicious, and does positively prohibit it, in Hatred to the Vanity which feems to be always attached to the Testimony that Men give of themselves; whereas In vitium ducit culpæ fuga". i. e. Often it happens, that a cautious Fear Of erring, is a direct Way to err. : I think this Remedy does more Hurt than Good. But, though it were true, that it must neceffarily be Prefumption for a Man to make himself the Subject of his Difcourse, I ought not, in Pursuance of my general Design, to forbear an Action that publishes this Infirmity, since 'tis my very Cafe; nor ought I to conceal that Fault which I not only practise but profess. Nevertheless, to speak what I really think of the Matter, 'tis a wrong Custom to condemn Wine, because some People get drunk with it. A Man cannot abuse any Thing, but what is good in itself; and I believe, that this Rule has only Regard to the popular Default. They are Bitts which are no Check, neither to the Saints, whom we hear fpeak so highly of themselves, nor to the Philosophers, nor to the Divines. Neither am I curbed thereby, who am as little of the one as of the other. If they do not write of it exprefly, they feign at least, when they have a fair Opportunity, not to speak of it without Reserve. Of whom does Socrates treat more largely, than of himself? To what does he more frequently direct the Discourses of his Disciples, ■ Hor. Art. Poet. v. 31. Disciples, than to speak of themselves; not of the Leffon of their Eook, but of the Effence and Agitation of their Souls? We confefs ourselves religioufly to God and our Confeffor, as our Neighbours (the Protestants] do to all the People. But some will say, that we speak nothing therein, but Accufations against ourselves. Why then fo we say all, for our very Virtue itself is faulty, and deserving of Repentance. My Art and Business is to live. He that forbids me to speak according to my own Senfe, Experience, and Practice, may as well enjoin an Architect to speak of Buildings not in his own Stile, but in his Neighbour's; not according to his own Science, but according to another Man's. If it be vain-glorious for a Man to publish his own good Qualities, Why does not Cicero prefer the Eloquence of Hortenfius, and Hortenfius that of Cicero? Peradventure they mean, that I should give Testimony of myself by Works and Effects, not barely by Words. I chiefly paint my Thoughts rough as they run, and incapable of being connected. 'Tis as much as I can do to couch the Subject in this airy Body of the Voice. The wisest and the devoutest Men have lived with the greatest Care to avoid all apparent Effects. Such Effects would speak more of Fortune than of me. They manifest their own Office, not mine, unless it be uncertainly and by Conjecture. They are Scantlings of a particular Figure. I expose myself entire. 'Tis a Skeleton where, at one View, the Veins, Muscles, and Tendons appear, each in its proper Place. The Production of one Part was owing to a Cough, and that of another to Paleness, or Palpitation of the Heart. They are not my Deeds which I write, but myself, my very Effence. I am of Opinion, that 'tis a necessary Prudence in a Man to make a true Eftimate of himself, and Tis a com that he should likewise be confcientious to mendable declare it indifferently, be it high or low. Thing for a Man to fet a If I thought myself perfectly good and wife, just Value upon I fhould proclaim it with a loud Voice. For himself. a Man to speak less of himself than what he really is, is a Folly, not Modesty; and for him to content himself with : less than his Equivalent is, according to Aristotle, Pufilla nimity and Cowardice. No Virtue is the better for the Aid of Falshood; and Truth is never the Subject of Error. For a Man to speak more of himself than is really true, 'tis not always Presumption only, but very often Folly. To be pleased beyond Measure with what one is, and to fall indifcreetly in Love with one's self, is, in my Opinion, the Substance of this Vice. The fovereign Remedy to cure it, is to do the very contrary to what these Persons direct, who, in forbidding Men to speak of themselves, do of Consequence much more forbid them to think of themselves. Pride dwells in the Thoughts, the Tongue can have but a very little Share in it. in himself. They fancy, that for a Man to muse with himself is to A Man's Mu- take Delight in himself; and that, if he is fing with him- often converfant with himself, he is overJelf is not to indulgent to himself. But this Excess arifes take Pleasure only in those who have but a superficial Idea of themselves; who inspect themselves, after their Affairs are over; who call Meditation Dreaming and Idleness; and who say, that for Men to study to polish and form themselves is to build Castles in the Air, looking upon themselves only as a third Person, and a Stranger to their very Selves. If any one be intoxicated with his own Knowledge, whilft he looks only on his Inferiors, let him but turn his Eyes back to past Centuries, and his Pride will be abated, when he there finds how many thoufand Geniuses there are vastly his Superiors. If he enter into a vain Conceit of his Valour, let him remember the Lives of Scipio, Epaminondas, and so many Armies and Nations, that leave him fo far behind them. No particular Quality can puff up a Man, who will put in the Counterbalance his many other Imperfections and Infirmities, and the Nothingness of the human State at best. Because Socrates was the only Man that heartily swallowed the Precept of his God, To know himfelf, and by that Study acquired a Contempt of himself, he was reckoned the only one worthy to be called the Wife Man. Whofo Why Socrates was reckoned the only wife Man. : ever shall know himself in the same Manner, let him boldly be his own Trumpeter. T CHAP. VII. Of HONORARY REWARDS. : Augustus Cafar observe HE Writers of the Life of this: That in his military Discipline he was wonderfully liberal of his Gifts to Men of Merit, Honorary Rebut that he was altogether as sparing of Re- wards ought to wards merely honorary; yet he had himself be dispensed been gratified by his Uncle with all the mili- with very tary Rewards, before he had ever been at War. great Difere'Twas a pretty Invention, and received in most Governments of the World, to establish certain vain and cheap Distinctions for the Honour and Recompence of Virtue; such as Crowns of Laurel, Oak, and Myrtle; the particular Fashion of fome Garment; the Privilege to ride about the City in a Coach, or to have a Torch in the Night; some particular Seat in the public Assemblies; the Prerogative of some Surnames and Titles; certain Distinctions in their Coats of Arms, and the like; the Use of which has been, and is to this Day, variously received, according to the Humours of the several Nations. Orders of Knighthood, a laudable Institution, and of great Ufe. We (in France) as also several of our Neighbours, have certain Orders of Knighthood, that are instituted only for this End. And, in Truth, 'tis a good and a profitable Custom to find out a Way to acknowledge the Worth of rare and excellent Men, and to fatisfy them with Rewards that are not at all chargeable, either to the People or to the Prince. And that which has been always found, both by ancient Experience, and what we ourselves may alfo have observed in former Times, viz. that the Men of Quality are fonder of fuch Rewards than of those that bring Gain and Profit, is founded on a Reason that is VOL. II. F • Suetonius, in the Life of Auguftus, ch. 25. Dona militaria, c. very very apparent. If, with a Reward which ought to be purely honorary, Riches, or other Emolument, were mingled, such Mixture, instead of augmenting Esteem, would debafse and diminish it. tempt. The Order of St. Michael, which has been so long The Order of in Repute amongst us, had no greater AdSt. Michael, o vantage than that it communicated no much efteened at first, how how Profit; which produced this Effect, that fallen into Con- heretofore there was no Office nor Rank whatfoever, to which the Gentry aspired with so much Defire and Affection, as they did to this Order; nor any Class which brought with it more Respect and Grandeur, Virtue being more eager to embrace and to afpire to a Reward purely its own, and rather honourable than profitable. For, in Truth, there is not such a Dignity in the Ufe of other Rewards, by reason they are employed on all Manner of Occasions. With Money a Man pays the Wages of a Servant, the Diligence of a Courier, the Dancer, the Tumbler, the Tongue-pad, and the vileft Offices that are done for us; nay, Vice is rewarded with it, as Flattery, Pimping, and Treachery. 'Tis no Wonder therefore, if Virtue is not fo fond of receiving or being paid in this common Coin, as in that which is proper and peculiar to it, altogether noble and generous. Augustus had Reason to be far more thrifty and sparing of this than the other, forafmuch as Honour is a Privilege which is principally esteemed for its Rarity, as is the Cafe with Virtue itself: Cui malus est nemo, quis bonus esse poteft? i. e. 1 i Who can feem Good to him who thinks none Bad? 'Tis not remarked as a Commendation of a Man, that he takes Care of the Education of his Children, by Reafon 'tis a common Act, how just soever it be, no more than we praise a tall Tree, where the whole Forest confifts of the fame. I do not think that any Citizen of Sparta boasted of his Valour, it being the universal Virtue : of • Martial. lib. xii. Ep. 82. |