Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times: Three-Volume Slipcased Set, with Illustrations

Miscellaneous Reflections

c_Miscellaneous Reflections MISCELLANY I CHAPTER I Ofthe Nature, Rise, andEstablishment of MrscELLANYS. --The Subject ofthese whichfollow. --Intention ofthe Writer. PEACE be with the Soul of that charitable and courteous Author, who for the common Benefitofhis Fellow-A~thors, introduc'd the ingenious way of MISCELLANEOUS Writ- [2] ing!- lt must be own'd that since this happy Method was establish 'd, the Harvest of Wit has been more plentiful, and the Labourers more in number than heretofore. 'Tis well known to the able Practitioners in the writing Art; "That as easy as it is to conceive 3 4 MISCELLANEOUS Chap. 1. Wit, 'tis the hardest thing imaginable to be deliver'd of It, upon certain Terms." Nothing cou'd be more severe or rigid than the Conditions formerly prescrib'd to Writers; when CRITICISM took place, and Regularity and Order were thought essential in a Treatise . The Notion of a genuine Work, a legitimate andjust Piece, has certainly been the Occasion of great Timidity and Backwardness among the Adventurers in Wit: And the Imposition ofsuch strict Laws and Rules of Composition, has set heavy on the free Spirits and forward Genius's of Mankind. 'Twas a Yoke, it seems, which our Forefathers bore; but which, for our parts, we have generously thrown off. In effect, the invidious Distinctions of Bastardy and Legitimacy being at length remov'd; the natural and lawful Issue of the Brain comes with like advantage into the World: And Wit (mere WIT) is well receiv'd; without examination of the Kind, or censure of the Form. This the MISCELLANEOUS Manner of Writing, it must be [3] own'd, has happily effected. It has render'd almost every Soil productive . It has disclos'd those various Seeds of Wit, which lay suppress 'd in many a Bosom; and has rear'd numberless Conceits and curious Fancys, which the natural Rudeness and Asperity of their native Soil wou'd have with-held, or at least not have permitted to rise above the ground. From every Field, from every Hedge or Hillock , we now gather as delicious Fruits and fragrant Flowers, as of old from the richest and best-cultivated Gardens. Miserable were those antient Planters, who understanding not how to conform themselves to the rude Taste of unpolish'd Mankind, made it so difficult aTask to serve theWorld with intellectual Entertainments, and furnish out the Repasts of Literature and Science. There was certainly a time when the Name of AuTHOR stood for something considerable in the World. To succeed happily in such a Labour as that of writing a Treatise or a Poem, was taken as a sure mark of Understanding and Good Sense. The Task was painful: But, it seems, 'twas honourable. How the Case happen'd, in process of time, to be so much revers'd, is hard to say. The REFLECTIONS 5 primitive Authors perhaps being few in number, and highly re- Chap. r. spected for their Art, fell under the weight ofEnvy. Being sensible of'their Misfortune in this respect, and being excited, as 'tis prob- [4] able, by the Example of some popular Genius; they quitted their regular Schemes and accurate Forms of Workmanship, in favour of those Wits who could not possibly be receiv'd as AuTHORS upon such difficult Terms. 'Twas necessary, it seems, that the Bottom of Wit shou'd be enlarg'd. 'Twas advisable that more Hands shou'd be taken into the Work. And nothing cou'd better serve this popular purpose, than the way of MISCELLANY, or common EssAY; in which the most confus'd Head, iffraught with a little Invention , and provided with Common-place-Book Learning, might exert itself to as much advantage, as the most orderly and wellsettled Judgment. To explain the better how this Revolution in Letters has been effected, it may not perhaps be indecent, shou'd we offer to compare our Writing-Artists, to the Manufocturers in Stuffor Silk. For amongThese 'tis esteem'd a principal piece ofSkill, to frame a Pattern , or Plan of Workmanship, in which the several Colours are agreeably dispos'd; with such proportionable Adjustment of the various Figures and Devices, as may, in the whole, create a kind of Harmony to the Eye. According to this Method, each Piece must be, in reality, an Original. Fo; to copy what has gone before, can [5] be of no use. The Fraud wou'd easily be...