Plato himself. Should they go farther, and demand an Account of his Tenets ; I must turn them over to Horace, who has comprifed them all in one Line. Omnis Ariftippum decuit color, et ftatus, et res. In the Court of the King of Sicily, this wife Man enjoyed all the Delights that would have fatisfied a fenfual Mind; but it was the Use of these which fhewed him a true Philofopher. He was temperate in them, while he poffeffed them; and eafy without them, when they were no longer in his Power. In a Word, he had the Integrity of Diogenes, without his Churlifhnefs; and as his Wifdom was useful to himself, fo it rendered him agreeable to the rest of the World. Aristippus had many Pupils; but, for the regular Succeffion in his School, it has either not been recorded by the Greek Writers, or, at least, by any of them that came to my hand. Among the Romans, indeed, this Kind of Knowledge was in the highest Efteem; and that at the Time when the Reputation of the Commonwealth was at its greateft Height. Scipio was lefs diftinguished by the Laurels he acquired from foreign Conquefts, than by the Myrtle Garland he wore as a Profeffor in this Art. The familiar Letters of Cicero are so many short Lectures in our Science, and the Life of Pomponius Atticus a Praxis only on Polite Philofophy, I would I would not be fufpected to mention these great Names with an Intent to display my Learning; far be it from me to write a Satyr on the Age: All I aim at is, to convince the beaux efprits of our Times, that what I teach, they may receive without Difparagement, fince they tread thereby in the fame Road with the greateft Heroes of Antiquity; and, in this Way, at least emulate the Characters of Alexander and Cafar. Or, if those old-fashioned Commanders excite not their Ambition, I will venture to affure them, that, in this Track only, they will be able to approach the immortal Prince Eugene; who, glorious from his Courage, and amiable from his Clemency, is yet lefs diftinguished by his Rank, than by his Politeness. After naming Prince Eugene, it would debase my Subject to add another Example. I fhall proceed therefore to take Notice of fuch Qualities of the Mind as are requifite for my Pupils to have, previous to the Receipt of these Inftructions. But as Vanity is one of the greatest Impediments in the Road of a Polite Philofopher; and as he who takes upon him to be a Preceptor, ought, at least, not to give an ill Example to his Scholars; it will not be improper for me to declare, that, in compofing this Piece, I had in my Eye that Precept of Seneca, Hæc aliis dic, ut dum dicis, audias; ipfe fcribe, ut dum fcripferis, legas. Which, for the Sake of the Ladies, I fhall tranflate into English; and and into Verfe, that I may gratify my own Propenfity to rhyming: Speaking to Others, what you dictate hear; And learn yourself, while teaching you appear. Thus you see me ftript of the ill-obeyed Authority of a Pedagogue; and are, for the future, to confider me only as a School-fellow playing the Mafter, that we may the better conquer the Difficulties of our Task. To proceed then in the Character, which, for my own Sake, as well as yours, I have put on, let me remind you, in the first Place, That Reafon, however antique you may think it, is a thing abfolutely neceffary in the Compofition of him who endeavours at acquiring a philofophical Politeness; and let us receive it as a Maxim, That, without Reason, there is no being a fine Gentleman. However, to foften, at the fame Time that we yield to this Conftraint, I tell my blooming Audience with Pleasure, that Reason, like a Fop's Underwaistcoat, may be wore out of fight; and, provided it be but worn at all, I shall not quarrel with them, though Vivacity, like a laced Shirt, be put over it to conceal it; for, to purfue the Comparison, our Minds fuffer no lefs from Indifcretion, than our Bodies from the Injuries of Weather. Next Next to this, another out-of-the-way Qualification must be acquired; and that is, Calmness. Let not the Smarts of the Univerfity, the Sparks of the Side-boxes, or the genteel Flutterers of the Drawingroom, imagine, that I will deprive them of those elevated Enjoyments, drinking Tea with a Toast, gallanting a Fan, or roving, like a Butterfly, through a Parterre of Beauties. No; I am far from being the Author of fuch fevere Institutions; but am, on the contrary, willing to indulge them in their Pleafures, as long as they preserve their Senfes. By which I would be understood to mean, while they act in Character, and fuffer not a fond Inclination, an aspiring Vanity, or a giddy Freedom, to transport them into the doing any thing, which may forfeit prefent Advantages, or entail upon them future Pain. I fhall have frequent Occafion in the following Pages, to fhew from Examples, of what mighty Ufe Reafon, and an undisturbed Temper, are to Men of great Commerce in the World; and therefore fhall infift no farther on them here. The laft Difpofition, of the Soul, which I fhall mention, as neceffary to him who would become a Proficient in this Science, is Good-nature; a Quality, which, as Mr. Dryden faid in a Dedication to one of the beft-natured Men of his Time, deferves the highest Esteem, though, from an unaccountable Depravity both of Taste and Morals, it meets with the leaft. For, can there be any thing more amiable in human 4 human Nature, than to think, to fpeak, and to do whatever Good lies in our Power unto all? No Man who looks upon the Sun, and who feels that Chearfulness which his Beams infpire, but would rather wifh himself like fo glorious a Being, than to refemble the Tiger, however formidable for its Fierceness, or the Serpent, hated for his hiffing, and dreaded for his Sting. Good-nature may, indeed, be made almost as diffufive as Day-light; but fhort are the Ravages of the Tiger, innocent the Bite of a Serpent, to the Vengeance of a cankered Heart, or the Malice of an envenomed Tongue. To this let me add another Argument in Favour of this Benevolence of Soul; and farther Perfuafions will, I flatter myfelf, be unneceffary. Good-nature adorns every Perfection a Man is Mafter of, and throws a Veil over every Blemish, which would otherwise appear. In a Word, like a fkilful-Painter, it places his Virtues in the faireft Light, and cafts all his Foibles into Shade. Thus, in a few Words, Senfe, Moderation, and Sweetness, are effential to a Polite Philofopher. And if you think you cannot acquire these, even lay my Book afide. But before you do that, indulge me yet a Moment longer. Nature denies the firft to few; the fecond is in every Man's Power; and no Man need be without the laft, who either values general Efteem, or is not indifferent to public Hate. For, to fay Truth, what is neceffary to make an honeft Man, properly applied, would make a polite one: And as almost every one would take it amifs, if we fhould deny him the first Appellation; so you may I perceive |