The Spectator Volume Iii Part 25

[Footnote 2: Stocks-market, upon the site of which the Mansion House was built in 1738, received its name from a pair of stocks erected near it as early as the year 1281. Sir Robert Viner here erected, in 1675, his white marble statue of Charles II., that he bought a bargain at Leghorn.

It was a statue of John Sobieski trampling on a Turk, which had been left on the sculptor's hands, but his worship the Mayor caused a few alterations to be made for the conversion of Sobieski into Charles, and the Turk (still with a turban on his head) into Oliver Cromwell. After the building of the Mansion House this statue lay as lumber in an inn yard till, in 1779, the Corporation gave it to a descendant of the Mayor, who had the reason above given for reverencing Charles II.]

[Footnote 3: Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham.]

No. 463. Thursday, August 21, 1712. Addison.

'Omnia quae sensu volvuntur vota diurno Pectore sopito reddit amica quies.

Venator defessa toro c.u.m membra reponit Mens tamen ad sylvas et sua l.u.s.tra redit.

Judicibus lites, aurigis somnia currus, Vanaque nocturnis meta cavetur equis.

Me quoque Musarum studium sub nocte silenti Artibus a.s.suetis sollicitare solet.'

Claud.

I was lately entertaining my self with comparing _Homer's_ Ballance, in which _Jupiter_ is represented as weighing the Fates of _Hector_ and _Achilles_, with a Pa.s.sage of _Virgil_, wherein that Deity is introduced as weighing the Fates of _Turnus_ and _aeneas_. I then considered how the same way of thinking prevailed in the Eastern Parts of the World, as in those n.o.ble Pa.s.sages of Scripture, wherein we are told, that the great King of _Babylon_ the Day before his Death, had been weighed in the Ballance, and been found wanting. In other Places of the Holy Writings, the Almighty is described as weighing the Mountains in Scales, making the Weight for the Winds, knowing the Ballancings of the Clouds, and in others, as weighing the Actions of Men, and laying their Calamities together in a Ballance. _Milton_, as I have observed in a former Paper, had an Eye to several of these foregoing Instances, in that beautiful Description [1] wherein he represents the Arch-Angel and the Evil Spirit as addressing themselves for the Combat, but parted by the Ballance which appeared in the Heavens and weighed the Consequences of such a Battel.

'Th' Eternal to prevent such horrid fray Hung forth in Heav'n his golden Scales, yet seen Betwixt Astrea and the Scorpion Sign, Wherein all things created first he weigh'd, The pendulous round Earth with ballanc'd Air In counterpoise, now ponders all events, Battels and Realms; in these he puts two weights The sequel each of parting and of fight, The latter quick up flew, and kickt the Beam: Which _Gabriel_ spying, thus bespake the _Fiend_.

_Satan_, I know thy Strength, and thou know'st mine, Neither our own, but giv'n; what folly then To boast what Arms can do, since thine no more Than Heav'n permits; nor mine, though doubled now To trample thee as mire: For proof look up, And read thy Lot in yon celestial Sign Where thou art weigh'd, and shewn how light, how weak, If thou resist. The Fiend look'd up, and knew His mounted Scale aloft; nor more, but fled Murm'ring, and with him fled the Shades of Night.'

These several amusing Thoughts having taken Possession of my Mind some time before I went to sleep, and mingling themselves with my ordinary Ideas, raised in my Imagination a very odd kind of Vision. I was, methought, replaced in my Study, and seated in my Elbow Chair, where I had indulged the foregoing Speculations, with my Lamp burning by me, as usual. Whilst I was here meditating on several Subjects of Morality, and considering the Nature of many Virtues and Vices, as Materials for those Discourses with which I daily entertain the Publick; I saw, methought, a Pair of Golden Scales hanging by a Chain of the same Metal over the Table that stood before me; when on a sudden, there were great Heaps of Weights thrown down on each side of them. I found upon examining these Weights, they shewed the Value of every thing that is in Esteem among Men. I made an Essay of them, by putting the Weight of Wisdom in one Scale, and that of Riches in another, upon which the latter, to shew its comparative Lightness, immediately _flew up and kickt the Beam_.

But, before I proceed, I must inform my Reader, that these Weights did not exert their Natural Gravity, 'till they were laid in the Golden Ballance, insomuch that I could not guess which was light or heavy, whilst I held them in my Hand. This I found by several Instances; for upon my laying a Weight in one of the Scales, which was inscribed by the Word _Eternity_; tho' I threw in that of Time, Prosperity, Affliction, Wealth, Poverty, Interest, Success, with many other Weights, which in my Hand seemed very ponderous, they were not able to stir the opposite Ballance, nor could they have prevailed, though a.s.sisted with the Weight of the Sun, the Stars, and the Earth.

Upon emptying the Scales, I laid several t.i.tles and Honours, with Pomps, Triumphs, and many Weights of the like Nature, in one of them, and seeing a little glittering Weight lie by me, I threw it accidentally into the other Scale, when, to my great Surprize, it proved so exact a Counterpoise, that it kept the Ballance in an Equilibrium. This little glittering Weight was inscribed upon the Edges of it with the Word _Vanity_. I found there were several other Weights which were equally Heavy, and exact Counterpoises to one another; a few of them I tried, as Avarice and Poverty, Riches and Content, with some others.

There were likewise several Weights that were of the same Figure, and seemed to Correspond with each other, but were entirely different when thrown into the Scales; as Religion and Hypocrisie, Pedantry and Learning, Wit and Vivacity, Superst.i.tion and Devotion, Gravity and Wisdom, with many others.

I observed one particular Weight lettered on both sides, and upon applying my self to the Reading of it, I found on one side written, _In the Dialect of Men_, and underneath it, _CALAMITIES_; on the other side was written, _In the Language of the G.o.ds_, and underneath, _BLESSINGS_.

I found the Intrinsick value of this Weight to be much greater than I imagined, for it overpowered Health, Wealth, Good Fortune, and many other Weights, which were much more ponderous in my Hand than the other.

There is a Saying among the _Scotch_, that an Ounce of Mother is worth a Pound of Clergy; I was sensible of the Truth of this Saying, when I saw the Difference between the Weight of Natural Parts, and that of Learning. The Observation which I made upon these two Weights opened to me a new Field of Discoveries, for notwithstanding the Weight of Natural Parts was much heavier than that of Learning; I observed that it weighed an hundred times heavier than it did before, when I put Learning into the same Scale with it. I made the same Observation upon Faith and Morality, for notwithstanding the latter out-weighed the former separately, it received a thousand times more additional Weight from its Conjunction with the former, than what it had by it self. This odd Phaenomenon shewed it self, in other Particulars, as in Wit and Judgment, Philosophy and Religion, Justice and Humanity, Zeal and Charity, Depth of Sense and Perspicuity of Style, with innumerable other Particulars too long to be mentioned in this Paper.

As a Dream seldom fails of dashing Seriousness with Impertinence, Mirth with Gravity, methought I made several other Experiments of a more ludicrous Nature, by one of which I found that an _English_ Octavo was very often heavier than a _French_ Folio; and by another, that an old _Greek_ or _Latin_ Author weighed down a whole Library of Moderns.

Seeing one of my _Spectators_ lying by me, I laid it into one of the Scales, and flung a two-penny Piece into the other. The Reader will not enquire into the Event, if he remembers the first Tryal which I have recorded in this Paper. I afterwards threw both the s.e.xes into the Ballance; but as it is not for my Interest to disoblige either of them, I shall desire to be excused from telling the Result of this Experiment.

Having an Opportunity of this Nature in my Hands, I could not forbear throwing into one Scale the Principles of a Tory, and into the other those of a Whig; but as I have all along declared this to be a Neutral Paper, I shall likewise desire to be silent under this Head also, though upon examining one of the Weights, I saw the Word _TEKEL_ Engraven on it in Capital Letters.

I made many other Experiments, and though I have not Room for them all in this Day's Speculation, I may perhaps reserve them for another. I shall only add, that upon my awaking I was sorry to find my Golden Scales vanished, but resolved for the future to learn this Lesson from them, not to despise or value any Things for their Appearances, but to regulate my Esteem and Pa.s.sions towards them according to their real and intrinsick Value.

C.

[Footnote 1: Paradise Lost, end of Book IV.]

No. 464. Friday, August 22, 1712. Addison.

'Auream quisquis mediocritatem Diligit, tutus caret obsoleti Sordibus tecti, caret invidenda Sobrius aula.'

Hor.

I am wonderfully pleased when I meet with any Pa.s.sage in an old _Greek_ or _Latin_ Author, that is not blown upon, and which I have never met with in a Quotation. Of this kind is a beautiful Saying in _Theognis_; _Vice is covered by Wealth, and Virtue by Poverty_; or to give it in the Verbal Translation, _Among Men there are some who have their Vices concealed by Wealth, and others who have their Virtues concealed by Poverty._ Every Man's Observation will supply him with Instances of Rich Men, who have several Faults and Defects that are overlooked, if not entirely hidden, by means of their Riches; and, I think, we cannot find a more Natural Description of a Poor Man, whose Merits are lost in his Poverty, than that in the Words of the Wise Man. _There was a little City, and a few Men within it; and there came a great King against it, and besieged it, and built great Bulwarks against it: Now there was found in it a poor Wise Man, and he, by his Wisdom, delivered the City; yet no Man remembered that same poor Man. Then said I, Wisdom is better than Strength; nevertheless, the poor Man's Wisdom is despised, and his Words are not heard._[1]

The middle Condition seems to be the most advantageously situated for the gaining of Wisdom. Poverty turns our Thoughts too much upon the supplying of our Wants, and Riches upon enjoying our Superfluities; and, as _Cowley_ has said in another Case, _It is hard for a Man to keep a steady Eye upon Truth, who is always in a Battel or a Triumph._

If we regard Poverty and Wealth, as they are apt to produce Virtues or Vices in the Mind of Man, one may observe, that there is a Set of each of these growing out of Poverty, quite different from that which rises out of Wealth. Humility and Patience, Industry and Temperance, are very often the good Qualities of a poor Man. Humanity and Good-nature, Magnanimity, and a Sense of Honour, are as often the Qualifications of the Rich. On the contrary, Poverty is apt to betray a Man into Envy, Riches into Arrogance. Poverty is too often attended with Fraud, vicious Compliance, Repining, Murmur and Discontent; Riches expose a Man to Pride and Luxury, a foolish Elation of Heart, and too great a Fondness for the present World. In short, the middle Condition is most eligible to the Man who would improve himself in Virtue; as I have before shewn, it is the most advantageous for the gaining of Knowledge. It was upon this Consideration that _Agur_ founded his Prayer, which for the Wisdom of it is recorded in Holy Writ. _Two things have I required of thee, deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me Vanity and Lies; give me neither Poverty, nor Riches; feed me with Food convenient for me.

Lest I be full and deny thee, and say, who is the Lord? or lest I be poor and steal, and take the name of my G.o.d in vain._ [2]

I shall fill the remaining Part of my Paper with a very pretty Allegory, which is wrought into a Play [3] by _Aristophanes_ the _Greek_ Comedian.

It seems originally designed as a Satyr upon the Rich, though, in some Parts of it, 'tis like the foregoing Discourse, a kind of Comparison between Wealth and Poverty.

_Chremylus_, who was an old and a good Man, and withal exceeding Poor, being desirous to leave some Riches to his Son, consults the Oracle of _Apollo_ upon the Subject. The Oracle bids him follow the first Man he should see upon his going out of the Temple. The Person he chanced to see was to Appearance an old sordid blind Man, but upon his following him from Place to Place, he at last found by his own Confession, that he was _Plutus_ the G.o.d of Riches, and that he was just come out of the House of a Miser. _Plutus_ further told him, that when he was a Boy, he used to declare, that as soon as he came to Age he would distribute Wealth to none but virtuous and just Men; upon which _Jupiter_, considering the pernicious Consequences of such a Resolution, took his Sight away from him, and left him to strole about the World in the Blind Condition wherein _Chremylus_ beheld him. With much ado _Chremylus_ prevailed upon him to go to his House, where he met an old Woman in a tattered Raiment, who had been his Guest for many Years, and whose Name was _Poverty_. The old Woman refusing to turn out so easily as he would have her, he threatned to banish her not only from his own House, but out of all _Greece_, if she made any more Words upon the Matter.

_Poverty_ on this Occasion pleads her Cause very notably, and represents to her old Landlord, that should she be driven out of the Country, all their Trades, Arts and Sciences would be driven out with her; and that if every one was Rich, they would never be supplied with those Pomps, Ornaments and Conveniences of Life which made Riches desirable. She likewise represented to him the several Advantages which she bestowed upon her Votaries, in regard to their Shape, their Health, and their Activity, by preserving them from Gouts, Dropsies, Unweildiness, and Intemperance. But whatever she had to say for her self, she was at last forced to troop off. _Chremylus_ immediately considered how he might restore _Plutus_ to his Sight; and in order to it conveyed him to the Temple of _aesculapius_, who was famous for Cures and Miracles of this Nature. By this means the Deity recovered his Eyes, and begun to make a right use of them, by enriching every one that [was [4]] distinguished by Piety towards the G.o.ds, and Justice towards [Men [5]] and at the same time by taking away his Gifts from the Impious and Undeserving. This produces several merry Incidents, till in the last Act _Mercury_ descends with great Complaints from the G.o.ds, that since the Good Men were grown Rich they had received no Sacrifices, which is confirmed by a Priest of _Jupiter_, who enters with a Remonstrance, that since this late Innovation he was reduced to a starving Condition, and could not live upon his Office. _Chremylus_, who in the beginning of the Play was Religious in his Poverty, concludes it with a Proposal which was relished by all the Good Men who were now grown rich as well as himself, that they should carry _Plutus_ in a Solemn Procession to the Temple, and Install him in the Place of _Jupiter_. This Allegory instructed the _Athenians_ in two Points, first, as it vindicated the Conduct of Providence in its ordinary Distributions of Wealth; and in the next Place, as it shewed the great Tendency of Riches to corrupt the Morals of those who possessed them.

C.

[Footnote 1: Eccl. ix. 14-16.]