hould not indulge themselves in felf-praise, or even speak much of themfelves; and it is only among intimate friends or people of very manly behaviour, that one is allowed to do himself justice. No body finds fault with MAURICE, Prince of ORANGE, for his reply to one, who afked him, whom he efteemed the firft general of the age, The marquis de SPINOLA, faid he, is the fecond. Though it is obfervable, that the self-praife implied is here better implied, than if it had been directly expreffed, without any cover or disguise. He must be a very fuperficial thinker, who imagines, that all inftances of mutual deference are to be understood in earnest, and that a man would be more efteemable for being ignorant of his own merits and accomplishments. A fmall bias towards modefty, even in the internal fentiment, is favourably regarded, especially in young people; and a strong bias is required in the outward behaviour: But this excludes not a noble pride and fpirit, which may openly display itself in its full extent, when one lies under calumny or oppreffion of any kind. The generous contumacy of SOCRATES, as CICERO calls it, has been highly celebrated in all ages; and when joined to the ufual modesty of his behaviour, forms a fhining character. IPHICRATES, the ATHENIAN, being accused of betraying the interefts of his country, asked his accufer, Would you, fays he, on a like occafion, have been guilty of that crime? By no means, replied the other. And can you then imagine, cried the hero, that IPHICRATES would be guilty? In fhort, a generous fpirit and selfvalue, well founded, decently difguifed, and courageoufly fupported under diftrefs and calumny, is a great excellency, and feems to derive its merit from the noble * QUINCTIL, lib. v. cap. 12. elevation elevation of its fentiment, or its immediate agreeableness to its poffeffor. In ordinary characters, we approve of a bias towards modefty, which is a quality immediately agreeable to others: The vicious excels of the former virtue, namely, infolence or haughtinefs, is immediately difagreeable to others: The excefs of the latter is fo to the poffeffor. Thus are the boundaries of thefe duties adjusted. A defire of fame, reputation, or a character with others, is fo far from being blameable, that it feems infeparable from virtue, genius, capacity, and a generous or noble difpofition. An attention even to trivial matters, in order to pleafe, is alfo expected and demanded by fociety; and no one is furprized, if he find a man in company, to obferve a greater elegance of drefs and more pleafant flow of converfation, than when he paffes his time at home, and with his own family, Wherein, then, confifts V ANITY, which is fo juftly regarded as a fault or imperfection? It seems to confift chiefly in fuch an intemperate difplay of our advantages, honours and accomplishments; in fuch an importunate and open demand of praise and admiration, as is offenfive to others, and encroaches too far on their fecret vanity and ambition. It is befides a fure symptom of the want of true dignity and elevation of mind, which is fo great an ornament to any chara&er. For why that impatient defire of applaufe; as if you were not justly entitled to it, and might not reafonably expect, that it would for ever attend you? Why fo anxious to inform us of the great company which you have kept ; the obliging things which were faid to you; the honours, the diftinctions which you met with; as if these were not things of course, and what we could readily, of ourselves, have imagined, without being told of them? DECENCY, DECENCY, or a proper regard to age, fex, character, and ftation in the world, may be ranked among the qualities, which are immediately agreeable to others, and which, by that means, acquire praise and approbation. An effeminate behaviour in a man, a rough manner in a woman; thefe are ugly, because unfuitable to each character, and different from the qualities which we expect in the fexes. It is as if a tragedy abounded in comic beauties, or a comedy in tragic. The difproportions hurt the eye, and convey a difagreeable fentiment to the fpectators, the fource of blame and difapprobation. This is that indecorum, which is explained fo much at large by CICERO in his Offices. Among the other virtues, we may alfo give CLEANLINESS a place; fince it naturally renders us agreeable to others, and is no inconfiderable fource of love and affection. No one will deny, that a negligence in this particular is a fault; and as faults are nothing but finaller vices, and this fault can have no other origin than the uneafy fenfation, which it excites in others; we may, in this inftance, feemingly fo trivial, clearly difcover the origin of moral diftinations, about which the learned have involved themfelves in fuch mazes of perplexity and error. But befides all the agreeable qualities, the origin of whose beauty, we can, in fome degree, explain and account for, there ftill remains fomething myfterious and inexplicable, which conveys an immediate fatisfaction to the fpectator, but how, or why, or for what reafon, he cannot pre: end to determine. There is a MANNER, a grace, an eafe, a genteel nefs, an I-know not-what, which fome men poffefs above others, which is very different from external beauty and comelinefs, and which, however, catches our affection almoft as fuddenly and power powerfully. And though this manner be chiefly talked of in the paffion between the fexes, where the concealed magic is easily explained, yet furely much of it prevails in all our eftimation of characters, and forms no inconfiderable part of perfonal merit. This clafs of accomplishments, therefore, muft be trufted entirely to the blind, but fure teftimony of tafte and fentiment; and must be confidered as a part of ethics, left by nature to baffle all the pride of philofophy, and make her fenfible of her narrow boundaries and flender acquifitions. We approve of a other, becaufe of his wit, politeness, modefty, decency, or any agreeable quality which he poffeffes; although he be not of our acquaintance, nor has ever given us any entertainment, by means of these accomplishments. The idea, which we form of their effect on his acquaintance, has an agreeable influence on our imagination, and gives us the fentiment of approbation. This principle enters into all the judgments, which we form concerning manners and characters. SECTION IX. CONCLUSION. PART I. T may justly appear furprizing, that any man, in fo late an age, fhould find it requifite to prove, by elaborate reafoning, that PERSONAL MERIT confifts altogether in the poffeffion of mental qualities, useful or agreeable to the perfon himself or to others. It might be expected, that this principle would have occurred even to the first rude, unpractifed enquirers concerning morals, and been received from its own evidence, without any argument or difputation. Whatever is valuable in any kind, fo naturally claffes itfelf under the divifion of useful or agreeable, the utile or the dulce, that it is not eafy to imagine, why we fhould ever feek farther, or confider the question as a matter of nice research or enquiry. And as every thing ufeful or agreeable muft poffefs thefe qualities with regard either to the perfon himself or to others, the compleat delineation or defeription of merit seems to be performed as naturally as a fhadow is caft by the fun, or an image is reflected upon water. If the ground, on which the fhadow is caft, be not broken and uneven; nor the furface, from which the image is reflected, disturbed and confufed; a juft figure is immediately prefented, without any art or attention. And it feems |