Though nothing fo much gains upon the Affections as this Extempore Eloquence, which we have conftantly Occafion for, and are obliged to practife every Day, we very rarely meet with any who excel in it.

The Converfation of moft Men is difagreeable, not fo much for want of Wit and Learning, as of Good-breeding and Difcretion.

If you refolve to please, never fpeak to gratify any particular Vanity or Paffion of your own, but always with a Defign either to divert or inform the Company. A Man who only aims at one of thefe, is always cafy in his Difcourfe; he is never out of Humour at being interrupted, because he confiders that those who hear him are the best Judges, whether what he was faying could either divert or inform them.

A modeft Perfon feldom fails to gain the Good-will of thofe he converfes with; because nobody envies a Man who does not appear to be pleafed with himself.

We fhould talk extremely little of ourfelves. Indeed what can we fay? It would be as imprudent to discover our Faults, as ridiculous to count over our fancied Virtues. Our private and domeftic Affairs are no lefs improper to be introduced into Converfation. What does it concern the Company how many Horfes you keep in your Stables? Or whether your Servant is moft Knave or Fool?

A Man may equally affront the Company he is in, by engroffing all the Talk, or obferving a contemptuous Si

lence.

Before you tell a Story, it may be generally not amifs to draw a fhort Character, and give the Company a true Idea of the principal Perfons concerned in it. The Beauty of moft Things confifting not so much in their being said or done, as in their being faid or done by fuch a particular Perfon, or on fuch a particular Occafion.

Notwithstanding all the Advantages of Youth, few young People please in Converfation; the Reafon is, that want of Experience makes them pofitive, and what they fay is rather with a Design to please themselves, than any one elfe.

It is certain, that Age itself fhall make many Things pafs well enough, which would have been laugh'd at in the Mouth of one much younger.

Nothing, however, is more infupportable to Men of Senfe, than an empty formal Man who fpeaks in Proverbs, and decides all Controverfies with a fhort Sentence. This Piece of Stupidity is the more infufferable, as it puts on the Air of Wisdom,

3

A

A prudent Man will avoid talking much of any particular Science for which he is remarkably famous. There is not methinks an handfomer Thing faid of Mr. Cowley in his whole Life, than that none but his intimate Friends ever difcover'd he was a great Poet by his Difcourfe. Befides the Decency of this Rule, it is certainly founded in good Policy. A Man who talks of any thing he is already famous for, has little to get, but a great deal to lofe. I might add, that he who is fometimes filent on a Subject where every one is fatiffied he could fpeak well, will often be thought no less knowing in other Matters, where perhaps he is wholly ignorant.

Whenever you commend, add your Reasons for doing fo; it is this which diftinguishes the Approbation of a Man of Senfe from the Flattery of Sycophants, and Admiration of Fools.

Raillery is no longer agreeable than while the whole Company is pleafed with it. I would leaft of all be understood to except the Perfon rallied.

Though Good-humour, Senfe and Difcretion, feldom fail to make a Man agreeable, it may be no ill Policy fometimes to prepare yourself in a particular Manner for Conversation, by looking a little farther than your Neighbours into whatever is become a reigning Subject. If our Armies are befieging a Place of Importance Abroad, or our Houfe of Commons debating a Bill of Confequence at Home, you can hardly fail of being heard with Pleasure, if you have nicely inform'd yourself of the Strength, Situation and Hiftory of the firft, or of the Reafons for and against the latter. It will have the fame Effect, if when any fingle Perfon begins to make a Noise in the World, you can learn fome of the fmalleft Accidents in his Life or Converfation, which though they are too fine for the Obfervation of the Vulgar, give more Satisfaction to Men of Senfe, (as they are the bett Opening to a real Character) than the Recital of his moft glaring Actions. I know but one ill Confequence to be fear'd from this Method, namely, that coming full charg'd into Company, you fhould refolve to unload, whether an handfome Opportunity offers itself or no.

Though the afking of Queftions may plead for itself the fpecious Name of Modefty, and a Defire of Information, it affords little Pleafure to the reft of the Company, who are not troubled with the fame Doubts; befides which, he who afks a Question would do well to confider, that he lies wholly at the Mercy of another, before he receives an Anfwer.

Nothing

Nothing is more filly than the Pleasure fome People take in what they call Speaking their Minds. A Man of this Make will fay a rude Thing for the mere Pleasure of faying it; when an oppofite Behaviour, full as innocent, might have preferv'd his Friend, or made his Fortune.

It is not impoffible for a Man to form to himself as exquifite a Pleasure in complying with the Humour and Sentiments of others, as of bringing others over to his own; fince 'tis the certain Sign of a fuperior Genius, that can take and become whatever Drefs it pleases.

I fhall only add, that befides what I have here faid, there is fomething that can never be learnt, but in the Company of the Polite. The Virtues of Men are catching as well as their Vices, and your own Obfervations added to thefe, will foon discover what it is that commands Attention in one Man, and makes you tir'd and difpleafed with the Difcourfe of another.

TH

LESSON V.

On POETRY.

HO' Invention be the Mother of Poetry, yet this Child is like all others, born naked, and must be nourifhed with Care, cloath'd with Exactnefs and Elegance, educated with Industry, inftructed with Art, improved by Application, corrected with Severity, and accomplished with Labour and with Time, before it arrives at any great Perfection or Growth. 'Tis certain, that no Compofition requires fo many feveral Ingredients, or of more different Sorts, than this; nor that to excel in any Qualities, there are neceflary fo many Gifts of Nature, and fo many Improvements of Learning and of Art. For there must be an univerfal Genius, of great Compafs, as well as great Elevation. There must be a fprightly Imagination or Fancy, fertile in a thoufand Productions, ranging over infinite Ground, piercing into every Corner, and by the Light of that true poetical Fire, difcovering a thousand little Bodies or Images in the World, and Similitudes among them, unfeen to common Eyes, and which could not be difcover'd without the Rays of that Sun. Befides the Heat of Invention and Livelinefs of Wit, there must be the Coldnefs of good Senfe, and Sound

nefs

nefs of Judgment, to diftinguish between Things and Conceptions, which at first fight, or upon fhort Glance, feem alike; to chufe among infinite Productions of Wit and Fancy, which are worth preferving and cultivating, and which are better ftifled in the Birth, or thrown away when they are born, as not worth bringing up.

Without the Forces of Wit, all Poetry is flat and languishing; without the Succours of Judgment, 'tis wild and extravagant. The true Wonder of Poefy is, that fuch Contraries must meet to compofe it; a Genius both penetrating and folid; in Expreffion both Delicacy and Force; and the Frame or Fabric of a true Poem, must have something both fublime and juft, amazing and agreeable. There must be a great Agitation of Mind to invent, a great Calm to judge and correct; there must be upon the fame Tree, and at the fame Time, both Flower and Fruit. To work up this Metal into exquifite Figure, there must be employed the Fire, the Chiffel, and the File. There must be a general Knowledge both of Nature and of Arts; and to go the lowest that can be, there are required Genius, Judgment, and Application; for without this laft, all the reft will not ferve Turn, and none ever was a great Poet that applied himself much to any thing else.

W

LESSON VI

A VISION.

HATEVER Induftry and Eagerness the modern Discoverers have fhewn for the Knowledge of new Countries, there yet remains an ample Field in the Creation, to which they are utter Strangers, and which all the Methods of Travelling hitherto invented, will never bring them acquainted with. Of this I can give a very particular Inftance, in an Accident which lately happened to me.

I was

As

on the 6th of this Inftant, walking with my Eyes caft upwards, I fell into a Reflection a Reflection on the vaft Tracts of Air which appeared before me as uninhabited. And wherefore, faid I to myfelf, fhould all this Space be created? Can it only be for an odd Bird to fly through, as now and then a Man paffes a Defart? Or are there alfo Kingdoms, with their particular Polities and

People,

People, of a Species which we know nothing of, ordain'd to live in it? It was in this manner I continued my Thought, when my Feet forfook the Level, and I was infenfibly mounted in the Air, till I arrived at a Footing as firm and level as what I had left. But with what Surprize did I find myfelf among Creatures diftinct from us in Shape and Cuftoms! The Inhabitants are of a small Stature, below those which Hiftory, defcribes for Pigmies; the tallest of them exceed not fourteen or fifteen Inches, and the least are hardly three. This Difference proceeds only from their Growth before they are brought to Light; for after, we never obferve them to grow, unless it please their Parents, who have this uncommon Method of enabling them: They recall them to the Womb, where having been for fome time, they receive an Addition to their Bulk, then go back to their Houses, and continue at a Stand as they did before. The Experiment has been often tried with Succefs, but fome have fuffered extremeJy by undergoing it.

Their Skins are like the ancient Britons, all drawn over with Variety of Figures; the Colour made ufe of for this End is generally black. I have indeed obferved in fome of the Religious and Lawyers of this Country, Red here and there intermingled, though not fo commonly of late. They tell me too, they often used to paint with all Colours; and I vifited two or three of the old Inhabitants who were · adorned in that Fashion: But this is now difufed, fince the new Inventions, by which the Ufe of a black Fountain that belongs to that Country, is rendered more useful and ferviceable.

The Cloaths in which they go clad are the Skins of Beafts,. worn by fome plain, by others with Figures wrought upon them. Gold is alfo made ufe of by fome to beautify their Apparel; but very feldom Silver, unlefs as Buckles are by us, for faftening the Garments before. I have seen fome of them go like Seamen in thin blue Shirts; others like Indians, in a party-colour'd loofe kind of Apparel; and others, who they told me were the Politicians of the Country, go about ftark naked.

The Manner of dreffing them is this: At firft when they come into the World they have a Suit given them, which if it do not fit exactly, is not as with us, fitted up again, but the Children are in a cruel Manner cut and fqueez'd to bring them to its Proportion. Yet this they feem not much to regard, provided their principal Parts are not affected. When the Drefs is thus fettled on them, they are clad for Life, it