perceive from thence how few there are, who, but from their own Indifcretion, may deferve the second. It is want of Attention, not Capacity, which leaves us fo many Brutes; and, I flatter myself, there will be fewer of this Species, if any of them can be prevailed on to read this. A Defcription of their Faults is, to fuch, the fittest Lecture; for few Monsters there are who can view themselves in a Glafs.

Our Follies, when display'd, ourselves affright;
Few are fo bad, to bear the odious Sight.
Mankind, in Herds, thro' Force of Cuftom, fray,
Milead each other into Error's Way;
Purfue the Road, forgetful of the End,
Sin by Miftake, and, without Thought, offend.

My Readers, who have, perhaps, been, many of them, accustomed to think Politeness rather an ornamental Accomplishment, than a Thing neceffary to be acquired in order to an easy and happy Life, may, from thence, pay lefs Attention than my Inftructions require, unless I can convince them they are in the wrong. In order to which, I muft put them in mind, that the Tranquillity, and even Felicity of our Days, depends as ftrongly on fmall things, as on great; of which Men may be eafily convinced, if they but reflect how great Uneafinefs they have experienced from cross Accidents, although they related but to Trifles; and at the fame time remember, that Difquiet is, of all others, the greatest Evil, let it arise from what it will.

Now, in the Concerns of Life, as in those of Fortune, Numbers are brought into what are called bad Circumftances

Circumftances from fmall Neglect, rather than from any great Errors in material Affairs. People are too apt to think lightly of Shillings and Pence, forgetting that they are the constituent Parts of Pounds; until the Deficiency in the greater Article shew them their Miftake, and convince them, by fatal Experience, of a Truth, which they might have learned from a little Attention, viz. that great Sums are made up of small.

Exactly parallel to this, is that wrong Notion, which many have, that nothing more is due from them to their Neighbours, than what refults from a Principle of Honefty; which commands us to pay our Debts, and forbids us to do Injuries: Whereas a thousand little Civilities, Complacencies, and Endeavours to give others Pleasure, are requifite to keep up the Relish of Life, and procure us that Affection and Esteem, which every Man, who has a Sense of its must defire. And in the right timing, and discreet Management of these Punctilios, confifts the Effence of what we call Politeness.

How many know the general Rules of Art,
Which, unto Tablets, human Form impart?
How many can depict the rifing Brow,
The Nofe, the Mouth, and ev'ry Feature fhew?
Can in their Colours imitate the Skin,
And, by the Force of Fire, can fix them in?
Yet, when 'tis done, unpleafing to the Sight;
Tho' like the Picture, ftrikes not with Delight:
'Tis Zink alone gives the enamel'd Face
A polif'd Sweetness, and a gloffy Grace.

Examples

Examples have, generally speaking, greater Force than Precepts; I will therefore delineate the Characters of Honorius and Garcia, two Gentlemen of my Acquaintance, whofe Humours I have perfectly confidered, and shall represent them without the least Exaggeration.

Honorius is a Perfon equally distinguished by his Birth and Fortune. He has naturally good Senfe; and that too hath been improved by a regular Education. His wit is lively, and his Morals without a Stain. Is not this an amiable Character? Yet Hcnorius is not beloved. He has, fome way or other, contracted a Notion, that it is beneath a Man of honour to fall below the Height of Truth in any Degree, or on any Occafion whatfoever. From this Principle, he speaks bluntly what he thinks, without regarding the Company who are by. Some Weeks ago, he read a Lecture on female Hypocrify before a married Couple, though the Lady was much suspected on that head. Two Hours after, he fell into a warm Declamation against Simony and Priestcraft, before two Dignitaries of the Church: And, from a continued Course of this Sert of Behaviour, hath rendered himself dreaded as a Monitor, instead of being esteemed as a Friend.

Garcia, on the contrary, came into the World under the greatest Disadvantages. His Birth was mean, and his Fortune not to be mentioned; yet, though he is scarce forty, he has acquired a handfome VOL. I.

R

Estate

Eftate in the Country, and lives on it with more Reputation than most of his Neighbours. While a Servitor at the University, he, by his Affiduities, recommended himself to a Noble Lord, and thereby procured a Place of Fifty Pounds a Year in a public Office. His Behaviour there made him as many Friends as there were Perfons belonging to that Board. His Readiness in doing Favours gained him the Hearts of his inferiors; his Deference for those in the highest Characters in the Office, procured him their Good-will; and the Complacency he expreffed towards his Equals, and thofe immediately above him, made them efpouse his Intereft with almost as much Warmth as they did their own. By this Management, in ten Year's Time, he rofe to the Poffeffion of an Office, which brought him in a thousand Pounds a Year falary, and near double as much in Perquifites. Affluence hath made no Alteration in his Manners. The fame Eafinefs of Difpofition attends him in that Fortune to which it has raised him; and he is at this Day the Delight of all who know him, from an Art he has of perfuading them, that their Pleasures and their Interests are equally dear to him with his own. Who, if it were in his Power, would refuse what Honorius poffeffes? and who would not wifh that Poffeffion accompanied with Garcia's Difpofition?

I flatter myself, that, by this Time, most of my Readers have acquired a tolerable Idea of Politeness, and a juft Notion of its Ufe, in our Paffage through Life. I muft, however, caution them of one thing,

that,

that, under Pretence of Politeness, they fall neither into a Contempt or Careleffnefs of Science.

A Man may have much Learning without being a Pedant; nay, it is neceffary that he should have a confiderable Stock of Knowledge before he can be polite. The Glofs is never given till the Work is finished; without it the best-wrought Piece looks clumfy; but Varnish over a rough Board, is a prepofterous Daub. In a Word, that Rule of Horace, Mifcere utile dulci, so often quoted, can never be better applied than in the prefent Cafe, where neither of the Qualities can fubfift without the other.

With Drefs, for once, the Rule of Life we'll place;
Cloth is plain Senfe, and polish'd Breeding, Lace.
may in both mistake the true Defign:

Men

Fools oft are tawdry, when they would be fine.
An equal Mixture, both of Use and Show,
From giddy Fops, points out th' accomplish'd Beau.

Having now gone through the præcognita of Polite Philofophy, it is requifite we fhould defcend with greater Particularity into its feveral Branches.

For though Exactnefs would not be of a Piece, either with the Nature or Intent of this Work; yet some Order is abfolutely neceffary, because nothing is more unpolite than to be obfcure. Some Philofophers have, indeed, prided themselves in a myfterious way of speaking; wrapping their Maxims in so tough a Coat, that the Kernel, when found, seldom attoned for the Pains of the finder.