N° 467. Tuesday, August 26. -Quodcunque meæ poterunt audere Camœnæ, Seu tibi par poterunt ; feu, quod fpes abnuit, ultrà; Sive minus; certeque canent minus : amne vovemus Hoc tibi; ne tanto careat mibi nomine charta. TIBULL. ad Meffalam, Eleg. 1. l. i. v. 24. Whate'er my mufe advent'rous dares indite, } THE love of praife is a paffion deeply fixed in the mind of every extraordinary perfon, and thofe who are most affected with it, feem moft to partake of that particle of the divinity which diftinguishes mankind from the inferior creation. The Supreme Being him*felf is moit pleased with praife and thanksgiving; the other part of our duty is but an acknowledgment of our faults, whilft this is the immediate adoration of his perfections. It was an excellent obfervation, that we then only defpife commendation when we ceafe to deferve it and we have ftill extant two orations of Tully and Pliny, fpoken to the greatest and beft princes of all the Roman emperors, who, no doubt, heard with the greatest fatisfaction, what even the most difinterested perfons, and at fo large a distance of time, cannot read without admiration. Cæfar thought his life confifted in the breath of praife, when he profeffed he had lived long enough for himself when he had for his glory. Others have facrificed themfelves for a name which was not to begin till they were dead, giving away themselves to purchase a found which was not to commence till they were out of hearing: but by merit and fuperior excellencies not only to gain, but, whilft living, to enjoy a great and univerfal reputation, is the laft degree of happinefs which we can hope for here. Bad characters are difperfed abroad with profufion, I hope for example fake, and (as punishments are defigned by the civil power) more for the deterring the innocent, than the chaftifing the guilty. The good are lefs frequent, whether it be that there are indeed fewer originals of this kind to copy after, or that, through the malignity of our nature we rather delight in the ridicule than the virtues we find in others. However it is but juft, as well as pleafing, even for variety, fometimes to give the world a reprefentation of the bright fide of human nature, as well as the dark and gloomy: the defire of imitation may, perhaps, be a greater incentive to the practice of what is good, than the averfion we may conceive at what is blameable, the one immediately directs you what you should do, whilft the other only fhews you what you fhould avoid and I cannot at prefent do this with more fatisfaction, than by endeavouring to do fome juftice to the character of Manilius. It would far exceed my prefent defign, to give a particular defcription of Manilius through all the parts of his excellent life: I shall now only draw him in his retirement, and pass over in filence the various arts, the courtly manners, and the undefigning honefty by which he attained the honours he has enjoyed, and which now give a dignity and veneration to the eafe he does enjoy. It is here that he looks back with pleafure on the waves and billows through which he has steered to fo fair an haven; he is now intent upon the practice of every virtuė, which a great knowledge and ufe of mankind has difcovered to be the most useful to them. Thus in his private domeftic employments he is no lefs glorious than in his public; for it is in reality a more dithcult tafk to be confpicuous in a fedentary inactive life, than in one that is fpent in hurry and bufinefs; perfons engaged in the latter, like bodies violently agitated, from the fwiftnefs of their motion have a brightness added to them, which often vanishes when they are at reft; but if it then ftill remain, it must be the feeds of intrinfic worth that thus fhine out without any foreign aid or affiftance. His liberality in another might almost bear the name of profufion; he feems to think it laudable even in the excefs, like that river which moft enriches when it overflows: but Manilius has too perfect a tafte of the pleasure of doing good, ever to let it be out of his power; and for that reafon he will have a juft economy, and a fplendid frugality at home, the fountain from whence thofe ftreams fhould flow which he difperfes abroad. He looks with difdain on thofe who propofe their death, as the time when they are to begin their inunificence; he will both fee and enjoy (which he then does in the highest degree) what he beftows himfelf; he 'will be the living executor of his own bounty, whilft they who have the happiness to be within his care and patronage, at once pray for the continuation of his life, and their own good fortune. No one is out of the reach of his obligations; he knows how, by proper and becoming methods, to raife himself to a level with thofe of the highest rank; and his good-nature is a fufficient warrant against the want of thofe who are fo unhappy as to be in the very loweft. One may fay of him, as Pindar bids his mufe fay of Theron. Swear, that Theron fure has fworn, Swear, that none e'er had fuch a graceful art, With an unenvious hand, and an unbounded heart. Never did Atticus fucceed better in gaining the univerfal love and esteem of all men; nor fteer with more fuccefs betwixt the extremes of two contending parties. It is his peculiar happiness, that while he efpoufes neither with an intemperate zeal, he is not only admired, but what is a more rare and unufual felicity, he is beloved and careffed by both; and I never yet faw any perfon of whatfoever age or fex, but was immediately ftruck with the merit of Manilius. There are many who are acceptable to fome particular perfons, whilft the reft of mankind look upon them with coldness and indifferbut he is the first whofe entire good fortune it is ever to please and to be pleased, wherever he comes to be .ence; 281 admired, and wherever he is abfent to be lamented. His merit fares like the pictures of Raphael, which are either feen with admiration by all, or at leaft no ore dare own he has no tafte for a compofition which has received fo univerfal an applause. Envy and malice find it against their intereft to indulge flander and obloquy. It is as hard for an enemy to detract from, as for a friend to add to his praise. An attempt upon his reputation is a fure leffening of one's own and there is but one way to injure him, which is to refufe him his just commendations, and be obftinately filent.!! ; It is below him to catch the fight with any care of drefs; his outward garb is but the emblem of his mind. It is genteel, plain, and unaffected; he knows that go'd and embroidery can add nothing to the opinion which all have of his merit, and that he gives a luftre to the plainest dress, whilft it is impoffible the richest should communicate any to him. He is ftill the principal figure in the room; he firft engages your eye, as if there were fome point of light which fhone stronger upon him than on any other perfon. He puts me in mind of a story of the famous Buffy d'Amboife, who at an affembly at court, where every one appeared with the utmost magnificence, relying upon bis own fuperior behaviour, inftead of adorning himself like the reft, put on that day a plain fuit of clothes, and dreffed all his fervants in the most coftly gay habits he could procure: the event was, that the eyes of the whole court were fixed upon him, all the reft looked, like his attendants, whilft he alone had the air of a perfon of quality and diftinction. Like Ariftippus, whatever fhape or condition he ap-. pears in, it ftill fits free and eafy upon hin; but in fome part of his character, it is true he differs from him; for as he is altogether equal to the largeness of his present circunftances, the rectitude of his judgment has fo far corrected the inclinations of his ambition, that he will not trouble himself with either the defires or pursuits of any thing beyond his prefent enjoyments.. A thoufand obliging things flow from him upon every occafion, and they are always fo juft and natural, that it is impoffible to think he was at the leaft pains to look for them. One would think it were the dæmon of good thoughts that discovered to him thofe treasures, which he must have blinded others from seeing, they lay fo directly in their way. Nothing can equal the pleafure is taken in hearing him fpeak, but the fatisfaction one receives in the civility and attention he pays to the difcourse of others. His looks are a filent recommendation of what is good and praise-worthy, and a fecret reproof of what is licentious and extravagant. He knows how to appear free and open without danger or intrufion, and to be cautious without feeming referved. The gravity of his converfation is always enlivened with his wit and humour, and the gaiety of it is tempered with fomething that is instructive, as well as barely agreeable. Thus with him you are fure not to be merry at the expence of your reafon, nor ferious with the lofs of your goodhumour; but, by a happy mixture of his temper, they either go together, or perpetually fucceed each other. In fine, his whole behaviour is equally diftant from conftraint and negligence, and he commands your respect, while he gains your heart. There is in his whole carriage fuch an engaging softness, that one cannot perfuade one's felf he is ever actuated by those rougher paffions, which, wherever they find place, feldom fail of fhewing themselves in the outward demeanour of the perfons they belong to: but his conftitution is a juft temperature between indolence on one hand and violence on the other. He is mild and gentle, wherever his affairs will give him leave to follow his own inclinations; but yet never failing to exert himself with vigour and refolution in the service of his prince, his country, or his friend. Z. |