1796.] The Enquirer. No. IX. paffion is a weaknefs which philofophy ought to fubdue. The doctrine of this haughty fect is, in appearance, abandoned; but it is, in truth, only a little lowered in it's tone. We are still instructed, that though the paffions are a part of our conftitution, which may, in the prefent state of things, be of ufe to ftimulate us to neceffary exertions, human nature rifes in dignity, in proportion as they are reftrained; and that, as we advance in moral merit, we fhall become fuperior to the impulfes of appetite and fentiment, and fhall act upon general principles of wisdom, and a calm conviction of what is right. Every warm attachment, every tender feeling, the natural offspring of unavoidable affociations, is, in the modern fyftem of philofophy, abforbed in an unimpaffioned difpofition to promote the general good. The foul, inftead of experiencing endless varieties of warmth, with its perpetual changes of atmofphere, is fyftematically brought into one unvarying temperature, at the ftationary point of univerfal benevolence. In order more fully to vindicate this fyftem, and to justify that contemptuous fneer with which its profeffors are much inclined to look down upon those weak fouls who melt in tender fympathy at forrows not their own, an appeal is made to experience; and we are required to obferve the effects actually produced on minds eafily fufceptible of impreffions, by the free indulgence of delicate fen fibilities. 66 Amongst young people, the fashionable practice of reading novels tends," it is remarked. " to produce a degree of refinement rather injurious than ufeful in the affairs of life. The admiration of fictitious portraits of elegance and per fection creates a diftafte for fuch moderate attainments as are ordinarily found in real characters. The falfe delicacy of fentiment expreffed in many of thefe tales, encourages an artificial referve more likely to damp than to cherish the genuine affections of nature. Extreme fenfibility, if real, is pitiable; if pretended, ridiculous. Who can endure, with patience, the weaknefs or the affectation which fhrieks at the fight of a fpider; faints at a drop of blood produced by the puncture of a needle; and "Dies of a rofe in aromatic pain?" "With men of tafte and letters, how often," it is faid, "is fenfibility found to be productive of more pain than pleafure! When finished performances in MONTHLY MAG. No, IX, 707 the fine arts have been admired, even to fatiety, and excellence has loft the charm of novelty, the powers of difcrimination become faftidious, and the reftiefs fancy chooses rather to vex tfelf with attending to new defects, than to feck a languid gratification from contemplating familiar beauties. Thus a poem, or a picture, which, at a lower ftage of refinement, would have afforded deligh, rather offends than pleafes the prctifed critic, or the connoiffeur who is elegans spectator formarum. "Senfibility, fo much admired as the foul of friendship, frequently," it is added, "degenerates into irritability. The tender fympathizing friend is often feen to harrafs both himfelf and the object of his affection by fufpicions and jealoufies excited by caufes altogether imaginary, or by trifling offences, whofe touch could only be perceived by feelings irritated even to forenefs. Even the un avoidable agitations of fympathy are frequently fo over-powering to tender fpirits, that they are inclined to offer, in earneft, a prayer for ind fference, and say, "Nor eafe, nor peace, that heart can know, That, like the needle true, Turns at the touch of joy or woe, But, turning, trembles too." Carried to its utmoft excefs, this weaknefs produces all the paroxyfms of phrenfy, and even terminates in fullen mifanthropy, in moody melancholy, or in raging madness." The real exiftence of thefe facts is not difputed. Mifchiefs, both ludicrous and ferious, arife, it is acknowledged, from morbid fenfibility. But what wife man would dry up the fources of a fertilifing ftream, becaufe its waters may fometimes be muddy, or may overflow its banks? With its natural degree of irritability, the Senfitive Plant, while it fhrinks at the touch, ftill lives and flourishes, and, poffibly, derives from the preffure which contracts its fibres, a pleafing fenfation: is it to be wifhed, that the plant were deprived of this quality, because, with a more irritable organization, it might, perhaps, on the gentleft touch, wither and die? The truth is, that fenfibility, though liable, like every thing eife, to perverfion and abufe, is too natural to man, to be reafoned away by the fubtilty of foeculation; and too effential to his happinefs, to be laughed out of the world by the dupes of whim and fashion. Human beings depend, neceffarily, for a great part of their happiness on external objects; and the very effence of enjoyment is, an agreeable perception of impreffions. No man is happy becaufe he knows a truth, or believes a fact, but because he is confcious of a pleafing emotion. If, therefore, happiness be the ultimate object of purfuit, it must be the part of wifdom to cherish fenfibility. The value of fenfibility is eminently feen in the pleasures of tafte. The furvey of grandeur and beauty affords various degrees of gratification between the fimple perception of relief from the liftlefinefs of indifference, and thofe ftrong emotions which rife into delight and rapture. To a mind fufceptible of thefe pleafures, Nature exhibits objects of ple fing contemplation in end!efs variety, and Ait prefents her whole train of elegant amufements. Every excellent product on is contemplated by fech a mind with high delight. and glowing enthufiafin; for its powers of imagination are Active and ftrong, and feelingly alive To each fine impulfe. Thefe pleatures, moreover, admit of great increafe from early habit, and repeated exercife. The fancy. like every other faculty, may be improved in the acutenefs of its perceptions by temperate ufe; and fince nature is infinitely diverfified in its appearances, and art admits of endlefs improvements in its operations the fources of the pleafures of imagination are inexhauftible. An attentive obferver of nature, or an accurate judge in the fine arts, will difcover innumerable beauties which efcape the common eye: Quam mulla vitent pi&tores quæ nos non videmus. If it be poffible that extreme refinement may produce a difrelifh for genuine beauty, and excite a fantastic admiration of that which is artificial and inraginary, correctness and delicacy of tafte, under the direction of good fenfe, can never fail to yield a high degree of pleasure in the contemplation of real excellence: they create an idea of perfection fuperior to any thing which art has ever executed; and enable the critic to enjoy an exquifite gratification, in bringing the productions of poets, and other artifts, to this ideal ftandard. If from the pleafures of tafte we pafs on to thofe of morals, we fhail find that thefe, alfo, receive their highcft finishing from delicate fenfibility. Who is beft capable of enjoying the fatisfactions * Cicero. of virtuous friendship, the endearments of domeftic life, and the pleasures of focial intercourfe? Certainly, the man whofe foul is the feat of every tender and generous fentiment, and is alive to every impulfe of affection. The feeling heart muft, it is true, often bleed over miferies which it wants the power to relieve and the diftreffes of fympathy are, in many cafes, equal to those of perfonal fuffering. But compaffion is accompanied with a glow of felf-approbation-a confcioufnefs of feeling as we ought--which amp y compenfates its forrows. The tears which a good man fheds over a brother in diftre are " precious drops," which, while they are received with grateful affection by the object on which they fall, the fympathizing mourner himfelf does not with to withhold. If fympathy have forrows of its own, it has alfo joys, which felfifh apathy cannot feel. to In young perfons, the early appearance of fenfibility is juftly confidered as a promifing omen. From the child whofe diftrefs, who refufes unneceffarily eye gliftens with a tear at a tale of crufh the helplefs infect, and who, from a genuine feeling of pity, beftows an unprompted and unfolicited alms, we naturally expect the future expanfion of kind affections and generous fentiments, in every relation of fociety. With whatever contempt the votary of diffipation may affect to treat this quality. its value is univerfally confeffed in domeftic life. It is moral fenfibility alone which can fupply the flame of pårental affection through all the labours, anxieties. and forrows of parental duty. It is only this which forms between brothers and fifters a bond of union, which no fubfequent change of fituation fhall be able to diffolve. Nothing, in fine, but the charm of moral fenfibility can be of power fufficient to difpel the vapours of fretfulnets and fpleen; and, under all the cloudy skies which must be expected in the courfe of human life, to make the hours país cheerfully along. 66 "A portion of this treafure is some-. times given," fays one who knew how to touch the finest chords of the feeling heart, to the roughest peafant who traverfes the bleakeft mountain. He finds the lacerated lamb of another's flockThis moment I behold him leaning with his head against his crock, with piteous inclination locking down upon it."Oh! had I come one moment fooner!" -it bleeds to death-his gentle heart 4 bleeda bleeds with it. Peace to thee, generous fwain! I fee thou walkeft off with anguifh-but thy joys fhall balance it; for happy is thy cottage, and happy is the fharer of it, and happy are the lambs which fport about you!' The value of fenfibility is beft feen in the most trying fituations. Who would not with for generous tenderness, as well as honour and integrity, in the friend to whom he fhould bequeath the important charge of guarding the property and the innocence, and fuperintending the education, of his orphan children? At the moment of diftrefs for the lofs of a parent, a wife, or a child, who would not prefer, as the companion of his forrows, a friend who will kindly fhare, his griefs, and echo his fighs, to one whofe infenfible nature, or whofe cold philofophy, would lead him to treat life as a jeft, and all its fond attachments as childish weakneffes, and who would be capable of infulting the filent forrows of a wounded heart with unfeafonably pleafantry? On the bed of fick nefs, what is there, next to confcious innocence-mens fibi confcia recti-so confolatory as the prefence of a friend, whose fenfibility will prompt him to liften with attention to your tale of fymptoms, and to prevent your wants by kind af fiduities? 709 of retiring to write a pathetic narrative of her dying daughter's fufferings, at the moment when he ought to have been performing the laft offices of maternal tendernefs, was a contemptible mass of affectation. But fuch cha acters would not exift, to bring fenfibility into difcredit, if, while the heart is foftened by frequently pref nting before the imagination fictitious fcenes of diftrefs, due care were taken to enlighten the underftanding and to employ the active powers in offices of humanity and kindness. The best corrective of the ridiculous follies of affectation is a well-intructed mind: and the languid imbecility which palive fympathy tends to produce, can only be prevented by the vigorous exertions of active beneficence. The mafculine Genius of Philofophy would no longer be ashamed to own Senfibility for his fitter, if fhe would always keep in mind the maxim of the good Marcus Aurelius-" Neither virtue nor vice confifts in receiving impretions,but in action." To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, I Send you a tranflation of the Proverbs of Ben Sira, who is believed to have been the nephew of the prophet Jeremiah. They were published, with a Collection of Hebrew Adages, at Franeker, 1597, by Drufius, and I believe have never yet appeared in English. To ftimulate benevolence-to render focial intercourfe interefting and delight ful-to foften afperities of temper—to promote gentlenefs of manners-to excite horror and indignation against favage and ferocious practices-to infpire a noble energy, and generous ardour, inftruggle with the ftream. the profecution of philanthropic defigns; fuch are the legitimate offices, the happy fruits, of fenfibility. Can it admit of a doubt, whether it ought to be cherished or repreffed? "Honour the phyfician while thou wanteft him not. Leave the fon, who is not a fon, to The affectation of fenfibility every one muft defpife; it is ridiculous in a woman; in a man it is difgufting. The real habit, carried to fuch excefs as to enervate the mind, to unfit it for laborious and painful duties, and to deprive it of that felf-command which a moment of danger requires, is a culpable weakness. The mother who, when the faw her child's clothes on fire, instead of feizing, on the inftant, the proper means of extinguishing the flame, fell into a fit, and left her child to perifh, was to be blamed as well as pitied; for fhe had neglected to brace up her mind to the tone of firmnefs neceflary for meeting the poffible ills of life. The mother who was capable Pick the bone which falls in your way. be corrected. Gold must be beat, and a child must Be good thyfelf, and withhold not thy hand from the good. Woe to the wicked and to their adherents! + Scatter thy bread upon the face of the waters, and in the deferts, and thou fhalt find it at the end. Haft thou feen a black afs? Neither a black one nor a white one. [This the fcholiaft explains, "learn always fo to anfwer as not to involve This story yourself in any difficulty." *The Latin is "Filium non filium fine ut in aqua fummo remiget." This phrafeology refembles the uning anong of Sophocles. + A metaphor (fays the commentator) taken from the husbandmen, who fatter their feed upon every foil; and applied to the exercise and reward of charity. 4 X 2 is adduced as an example, and faid to be the origin of the adage: A certain man had loft a white afs, and meeting a man standing in the public road, as he was feeking it, asked him, whether he had feen a white afs? I have feen an ats, he replied, entirely white, except his ears, which were black. And which road did he take? faid the owner: the man pointed out the road, and the other, after looking there in vain for his afs, returned, and afked the informer to accompany him. He confented. They went together, and fearched, without fuccefs. The owner then fufpected that his companion had led him out the way while his accomplices fecured their booty; quarrelled with him, took him to a magiftrate, and accufed him of the robbery. The magiftrate fentenced him to pay two hundred denarii, partly for the cofts, and partly for the afs; and as many pieces of gold for the baggage and money loft with the afs.] Never do good to a bad man, and evil fhall not happen to you. Withhold not thy hand from doing good. The bride goes to her bed, but knows not whether the fhall arife again. Correct a wife man with a look, but a fool with a ftaff. He who refpects his calumniator is like an afs. The raging fire deftroys many heaps of corn. An old man in a house is a good fign. If thou haft lent to any one, thou wilt demand it an hundred times in vain from the good, and a thoufand times from the bad. Lay the table, and contention ceafes. If it be neceffary that thou must have dealings, may thy lot be with the honeft The bufinefs which is near, is devoured by the mafter; that which is far off devours him. Deny not an old friend. Though thou haft threefcore counfellors, reject not thou the advice of thine own heart. Let thine hand be always as liberal as if thou wert always full, and not as if, being lately filled, thou remembereft thine hunger. Yield not thine heart to forrow, for forrow deftroys many. Many have fallen, and perifhed, through the beauty of a woman. Truft thy fecrets to one only, though a thousand seek thy friendship. bride. Keep thyfelf from the forward woman, as thou wouldest keep thy feet from hot coals. Turn away thine eyes from the forward woman, left thou be caught in her fnares. Woe to him who follows his eyes, when he knows them to be the children of whoredom! Be not with thofe who have either thin beards or thick ones, for thou knoweft not what may happen. Sons are dear to every man, but woe to the father of daughters! A daughter is a vain treafure to her father, for whilst he fears he fleeps not in the night. The guardian of a young damfel fleeps not, left fhe be deceived in her youth, and when older become abandoned. When thy daughter is married, thou wilt be very anxious for her, faying, perhaps the will have children, perhaps the will not; and left, in her old age, the addict herfelf to witchcraft. Be not idle in thy youth, and in thine age marry not an old woman; for an old woman will debilitate thee, though thou wert young, but a young wife will benefit thee. The waters of love of a young maiden are sweet; but the waters of love of an old woman are bitter as wormwood. Shake from thee the bad woman, who torments thee with her tongue; for a fcolding woman is like a mad dog, therefore let the doors be fhut upon her, though the answer thee mildly. A wife man will marry a maid, and not a widow; for the affections of the one fhall be thine own, but the husband has already had the love of the widow. Turn away thine eyes from a widow, and defire not her beauty in thine heart, for her children are the children of iniquity. Turn away thy face from evil companions, go not in their ways, keep thy feet from them, left thou be taken in the fame fnare. Gather up riches, my fon, and hide them, and give them not to thine heirs before the day of thy death. Gather up wealth, and take unto the a wife who fears God, that thou mayeft have children, even a hundred. Depart from a bad neighbour, and be not numbered in his fociety; for their feet run to evil, and they haften to shed blood. Nevertheless, pity thou thy Taken from the fudden death of a certain neighbours, though they be bad, and give to them of thy food, that they may bear 1796.] Character of the Rev. R. Robinson. bear teftimony for thee when thou ftandeft at the judgment. Hear my words, and incline thine ear to my fayings! Quarrel not with thy neighbours, and, if thou beholdeft in them aught wrong, proclaim not their infamy with thy tongue. Gather up gold and poffeffions, and tell not thy wife where they are, even though he be good. The day is fhort, the work is much. Let not the grief of to-morrow torment thee, for thou knoweft not what to-day may bring forth." Such are the Proverbs of Ben Sira, the nephew of Jeremiah the prophet. Mr. Gibbon could not have objected to thefe that they are too liberal for a Jew! Drufius has collected the few Hebrew adages that remain, in the fame little volume. If you approve of what I have tranflated, I will fend thofe likewife. 1 am, fir, &c. S. R. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. THE late Mr. Robert Robinfon, of SIR, Chesterton, near Cambridge, was a perfon no lefs diftinguished by the originality of his genius, than by his attainments in knowledge, and the luftre of his virtues: few characters in the private walks of life more obtained the esteem and admiration of his friends, or were better qualified to fill a fuperior station. I reckon it a great happiness of my life to have enjoyed his friendship for many years; and in drawing up the following fummary of his character, I wish to pay a tribute of respect to his memory: There is a defcription of people, who feem to think that nothing great can exift, but within a particular circle. Whatever eminence men may arrive at, in intellectual endowments, they are fure to be reminded of the difadvantages of their early years, or of their particular profetfions, as though talents were the inheritance of the great, and fame was the attendant of family. I have fometimes been led to obferve, that perfons who have the leaft pretenfions to boaft of their families, are frequently betrayed into his frivolity of conduct: they "Forget the dunghills where they grew, "And think themselves the Lord knows who." Mr. Robinfon certainly laboured, at the outfet of life, under what thefe genrlemen may reckon disadvantages. But were they real difadvantages; or were 711 they any other than fuch as may eventually prove the highcft benefits? The exertions made by men who emerge from obfcurity, have formed the greatest characters that ever exifted in fociety: and, generally fpeaking, fuch characters poffefs a beauty that renders them in a high degree amiable and endearing. The moft intimate friends of the benevolent Mr. Robinfon knew, that a prevailing fea ure in his character was an uncommon regard to the lower orders of fociety. In their company he ufed to fhade his fplendid abilities, and always appeared as the friend and companion. This conduct gave him great advantage in his paftoral and political character. No man, perhaps, ever excelled him in the art of fetting the lower ranks of people to reflect, and in inspiring them with liberality and benevolence; at the fame time his philanthropy was fo confpicuous and his addrefs fo infinuating, that people of the moft polite and elegant manners admired his character, and imbibed his principles. Generally fpeaking, it will be found, that reformers exift among people, nullius generis, rather than among privileged orders. lity by which Mr. Robinfon food Love of Independence was a quation is reckoned worthy of cenfure, raeminently diftinguifhed. This difpofither than praife, by fuch as are proud of retainers; and there is a fpecies of ferves animadverfion. If, under the nothis temper, that unquestionably detion of independence, men are too proud fer one; if they become dead to the foto receive a civility, or too felfish to concial paffions, and infenfible to the merit of others, they are mifanthropes, and refined degree of felfishness. their love of independence is but a more To men of fuch characters, it may be faid, as it was on another occafion: "take a ladder, and go to heaven by yourselves." Robinfon's love of independence rofe out of an enlarged liberality of mind, poffeffed the focial affections in a very and a great fenfibility of temper." He high degree, and the various duties of life were discharged by him with energy and ftri&tnefs. His mind was formed for fpeculation, his heart was the feat of fympathy. He was a diffenting minifter, ranked among the firft of public fpeakers, and obtained great popularity among all parties of Chriftians. But his love of independence inclined him not to rely entirely on his profeffion for fupport; and in every part of his life he feemed |
