he maketh his sun to rise upon the good and upon the evil, and sends his rain upon the just and upon the unjust."29 And thus we conclude this part of moral doctrine, relating to the georgics of the mind. So in the archetype of the Divine nature-the heathen religion-the words "Optimus maximus," and the Scripture pronounces the mercy of God to be above all his works." We have now concluded that portion of morals which appertains to the georgics of the mind; and should any one imagine, in reading the different parts of this science which we have already handled, that all our labor consists in uniting into one digest of the sciences all that has been neglected by other writers, and that such a work is at best only supplying what is clear and evident, and easily arrived at by reflection, let him freely enjoy his judgment; but at the same time we beg him to keep in mind our first assertion, that we sought in these researches, not the flourish and ornament of things, but their use and verity. He may also recall the ancient parable of the Two Gates of Sleep: "Sunt geminæ Somni Portæ, quarum altera fertur 9 30 A gate of ivory is indeed very stately, but true dreams pass through the gate of horn. There might, however, be added, by way of appendix, this observation, that there is a certain relation and congruity found between the good of the mind and the good of the body. For as the good of the body consists in1. Health; 2. Comeliness; 3. Strength; and, 4. Pleasure— so the good of the mind, considered in a moral light, tends to render it-1. Sound and calm; 2. Graceful; 3. Strong and agile for all the offices of life; and, 4. Possessed of a constant quick sense of pleasure and noble satisfaction. But as the four former excellences are seldom found to30 Virg. Æn. vi. 893. 28 Matt. v. 44. 29 Eccles. xviii. 12. 82 gether in the body, so are the four latter seldom found together in the mind." For it is evident that many are full of wit and courage, without being either calm or elegant in their deportment, or beautiful in their person; others again possess an elegant and fine deportment, and yet eschew honesty and justice; others again have pure minds, but without any qualifications for the business of life; others who perchance unite all these three qualities, possess a sullen humor of stoical sadness and stupidity-they practice a virtue, but refuse to enjoy its pleasures; and if perchance of these qualities two or three are sometimes found together, it seldom if ever happens that all four can be met with in the same person. And thus we have finished that principal branch of human philosophy, which considers man out of society, and as consisting of a body and a soul. EIGHTH BOOK CHAPTER I Civil Knowledge divided into the Art of Conversation, the Art of Negotiation, T and the Art of State Policy HERE goes an old tradition, excellent King, that many the ambassador of a foreign prince, where each endeavored to show his parts, that the ambassador might have somewhat to relate of the Grecian wisdom; but one among the number kept silence, so that the ambassador, turning to 31 This doctrine of the georgics of the mind is expressly endeavored to be supplied by Professor Wesenfeld, in the books he entitles "Arnoldi Wesenfeld Georgica Animi et Vitæ, seu Pathologia practica, moralis nempe et civilis, ex physicis ubique fontibus repetita." Francof. 1695, and 1712. Some account of this work is given in the "Acta Eruditorum." Mens. August, 1696. See also "Joan. Franc. Brudens de Cultura Ingeniorum," ed. Hala, 1699.-Shaw. 32 Mirabeau expressed the same sentiment with his usual felicity. Energy of character is scarcely ever found except in union with violent temperaments. The wicked only are active.-Ed. him, asked, "But what have you to say, that I may report it?" He answered, "Tell your king that you have found one among the Greeks who knew how to be silent."' Indeed, I had forgot in this compendium of arts to insert the art of silence. For as we are now soon to be led, by the course of the work, to treat the subject of government; and knowing that I write to a king who is so perfect a master of this science since his infancy, and being also mindful of the high office I hold under your Majesty, we thought we could not have a better occasion for putting the art of silence in practice. Cicero makes mention not only of an art, but even of an eloquence to be found in silence; and relates in an epistle to Atticus, how once in conversation he made use of this art: "On this occasion," says he, "I assumed a part of your eloquence; for I said nothing." And Pindar, who peculiarly strikes the mind unexpectedly with some short surprising sentence, has this among the rest: "Things unsaid have sometimes a greater effect than said." And, therefore, I have determined either to be silent upon this subject, or, what is next to it, very concise. Civil knowledge turns upon a subject of all others the most immersed in matter, and therefore very difficult to reduce to axioms. And yet there are some things that ease the difficulty. For, 1, as Cato said, "that the Romans were like sheep, easier to drive in the flock than single"; so in this respect the office of ethics is in some degree more difficult than that of politics. 2. Again, ethics endeavors to tinge and furnish the mind with internal goodness, while civil doctrine requires no more than external goodness, which is sufficient for society. Whence it often happens, 1 Plut. Moral. 2 The author here makes a compliment of his silence to King James, deeming it impertinent to speak of the arts of empire, to one who knew them so well; but the true reason appears to be, that he thought it improper to reveal the mysteries of state. See below, sect. xxv.-Ed. 3 Plut. Cato. 4 Hence there ought to be a due difference preserved between ethics and politics, though many writers seem to mix them together; and form a promiscuous doctrine of the law of nature, morality, policy, and religion together; as particularly certain Scriptural casuists, and political divines.—Shaw. that a reign may be good and the times bad. Thus we sometimes find in sacred history, when mention is made of good and pious kings, that the people had not yet turned their hearts to the Lord God of their fathers. And there fore, in this respect also, ethics has the harder task. 3. States are moved slowly, like machines, and with difficulty; and consequently not soon put out of order. For, as in Egypt, the seven years of plenty supplied the seven years of famine; so in governments, the good regulation of former times will not presently suffer the errors of the succeeding to prove destructive. But the resolutions and manners of particular persons are more suddenly subverted; and this, in the last place, bears hard upon ethics, but favors politics. Civil knowledge has three parts, suitable to the three principal acts of society; viz., 1. Conversation; 2. Business; and 3. Government. For there are three kinds of good that men desire to procure by civil society; viz., 1. Refuge from solitude; 2. Assistance in the affairs of life; and 3. Protection against injuries. And thus there are three kinds of prudence, very different, and frequently separated from each other; viz., i. Prudence in conversation; 2. Prudence in business; 3. Prudence in government." Conversation, as it ought not to be overaffected, much 5 From a mixture of these three parts of civil doctrine, there has of late been formed a new kind of doctrine, which they call by the name of civil prudence. This doctrine has been principally cultivated among the Germans; though hitherto carried to no great length. Hermannus Conringius has dwelt upon it at considerable length, in his book "De Civili Prudentia," published in the year 1662; and Christian Thomasius has treated it excellently in the little piece en titled, "Primæ Lineæ de Jure-consultorum Prudentia Consultatoria, etc., first published in the year 1705, but the third edition, with notes, in 1712. The heads it considers, are, 1, “de Prudentia in genere"; 2, "de Prudentia consultatoria"; 3, "de Prudentia Juris-consultorum"; 4, "de Prudentia consulendi intuitu actionum propriarum"; 5, "de Prudentia dirigendi actiones proprias in conversatione quotidiana"; 6, "de Prudentia in conversatione selecta"; 7, "de Prudentia intuitu societatum domesticarum"; 8, "de Prudentia in societate civili"; and 9, "de Prudentia alios et aliis consulendi.” The little piece also of Andr. Bossius, "De Prudentia Civili comparanda, "deserves the perusal. See Morhof, "De Prudentiæ Civilis Scriptoribus"; "Struvii Bibliotheca Philosophica," cap. 7; and "Stollii Introductio in Historiam Literariam, de Prudentia Politica."-Shaw. SCIENCE Vol. 21 -15 less should it be slighted; since a prudent conduct therein not only expresses a certain gracefulness in men's manners, but is also of great assistance in the commodious despatch both of public and private business. For as action, though an external thing, is so essential to an orator as to be preferred before the other weighty and more internal parts of that art, so conversation, though it consist but of externals, is, if not the principal, at least a capital thing in the man. of business, and the prudent management of affairs. What effect the countenance may have, appears from the precept of the poet-"Contradict not your words by your look❞— "Nec vultu destrue verba tuo." 6 For a man may absolutely cancel and betray the force of speech by his countenance. And so may actions themselves, as well as words, be destroyed by the look; according to Cicero, who, recommending affability to his brother toward the provincials, tells him it did not wholly consist in giving easy access to them, unless he also received them with an obliging carriage. "It is doing nothing," says he, "to admit them with an open door and a locked-up coun "Nil interest habere ostium apertum, vultum clausum." " We learn also that Atticus, previous to the first interview between Cicero and Cæsar, in which the issue of the war was involved, seriously advised his friend, in his letters, to compose his countenance and assume a calm tranquillity. But if the management of the face alone has so great an effect, how much greater is that of familiar conversation, with all its attendants. Indeed the whole of decorum and elegance of manners seems to rest in weighing and maintaining, with an even balance, the dignity between ourselves and others; which is well expressed by Livy, though upou a different occasion, in that character of a person, where 6 Ovid, Ars Amandi, i. 312. De Petit. Consulatus, xi. 44. |