The Spectator Volume Iii Part 97

It is certain the Imagination may be so differently affected in Sleep, that our Actions of the Day might be either rewarded or punished with a little Age of Happiness or Misery. St. _Austin_ was of Opinion, that if in _Paradise_ there was the same Vicissitude of sleeping and waking as in the present World, the Dreams of its Inhabitants would be very happy.

And so far at present our Dreams are in our Power, that they are generally conformable to our waking Thoughts, so that it is not impossible to convey our selves to a Consort of Musick, the Conversation of Distant Friends, or any other Entertainment which has been before lodged in the Mind.

My Readers, by applying these Hints will find the Necessity of making a _good Day_ of it, if they heartily wish themselves a good Night.

I have often consider'd _Marcia's_ Prayer, and _Lucius's_ Account of _Cato_, in this Light.

Marc. O ye immortal Powers, that guard the Just, Watch round his Couch, and soften his Repose, Banish his Sorrows, and becalm his Soul With easie Dreams; remember all his Virtues; And shew Mankind that Goodness is your Care.

Luc. Sweet are the Slumbers of the virtuous Man!

O Marcia, I have seen thy G.o.dlike Father: Some Pow'r invisible supports his Soul, And bears it up in all its wonted Greatness.

A kind refres.h.i.+ng Sleep is fall'n upon him: I saw him stretcht at Ease, his Fancy lost In pleasing Dreams; as I drew near his Couch, He smil'd, and cry'd, Caesar, thou canst not hurt me.

Mr. _Shadow_ acquaints me in a Postscript, that he has no manner of t.i.tle to the Vision which succeeded his first Letter; but adds, that as the Gentleman who wrote it Dreams very sensibly, he shall be glad to meet him some Night or other, under the great Elm Tree, by which _Virgil_ has given us a fine Metaphorical Image of Sleep, in order to turn over a few of the Leaves together, and oblige the Publick with an Account of the Dreams that lie under them.

No. 594. Wednesday, September 15, 1714.

'--Absentem qui rodit amic.u.m, Qui non defendit, alio culpante; solutos Qui captat risus hominum, famamque dicacis, Fingere qui non visa potest, commissa tacere Qui nequit, hic niger est: hunc tu Romane caveto.'

Hor.

Were all the Vexations of Life put together, we should find that a great Part of them proceed from those Calumnies and Reproaches which we spread abroad concerning one another.

There is scarce a Man living who is not, in some Degree, guilty of this Offence; tho', at the same time, however we treat one another, it must be confessed, that we all consent in speaking ill of the Persons who are notorious for this Practice. It generally takes its Rise either from an Ill-will to Mankind, a private Inclination to make our selves esteemed, an Ostentation of Wit, a Vanity of being thought in the Secrets of the World, or from a Desire of gratifying any of these Dispositions of Mind in those Persons with whom we converse.

The Publisher of Scandal is more or less odious to Mankind, and criminal in himself, as he is influenced by any one or more of the foregoing Motives. But whatever may be the Occasion of spreading these false Reports, he ought to consider, that the Effect of them is equally prejudicial and pernicious to the Person at whom they are aimed. The Injury is the same, tho' the Principle from whence it proceeds may be different.

As every one looks upon himself with too much Indulgence, when he pa.s.ses a Judgment on his own Thoughts or Actions, and as very few would be thought guilty of this abominable Proceeding, which is so universally practised, and, at the same time, so universally blamed, I shall lay down three Rules by which I would have a Man examine and search into his own Heart, before he stands acquitted to himself of that evil Disposition of Mind which I am here mentioning.

_First_ of all, Let him consider whether he does not take Delight in hearing the Faults of others.

_Secondly_, Whether he is not too apt to believe such little blackning Accounts, and more inclined to be credulous on the uncharitable than on the good-natured Side.

_Thirdly_, Whether he is not ready to spread and propagate such Reports as tend to the Disreputation of another. These are the several Steps by which this Vice proceeds, and grows up into Slander and Defamation.

In the first Place, A Man who takes delight in hearing the Faults of others, shows sufficiently that he has a true Relish of Scandal, and consequently the Seeds of this Vice within him. If his mind is gratified with hearing the Reproaches [which [1]] are cast on others, he will find the same Pleasure in relating them, and be the more apt to do it, as he will naturally imagine every one he converses with is delighted in the same manner with himself. A Man should endeavour therefore to wear out of his Mind this criminal Curiosity, which is perpetually heightened and inflamed by listening to such Stories as tend to the Disreputation of others.

In the second Place, a Man should consult his own Heart, whether he be not apt to _believe_ such little blackening Accounts, and more enclined to be credulous on the uncharitable, than on the good-natured Side.

Such a Credulity is very vicious in it self, and generally arises from a Man's Consciousness of his own secret Corruptions. It is a pretty Saying of _Thales_, Falshood is just as far distant from Truth, as the Ears are from the Eyes. [2] By which he would intimate, that a wise Man should not easily give Credit to the Reports of Actions which he has not seen.

I shall, under this Head, mention two or three remarkable Rules to be observed by the Members of the celebrated Abbey _de la Trape_, as they are Published in a little _French_ Book. [3]

The Fathers are there ordered, never to give an Ear to any Accounts of Base or Criminal Actions; to turn off all such Discourse if possible; but in Case they hear any thing of this Nature so well attested that they cannot disbelieve it, they are then to suppose, that the criminal Action may have proceeded from a good Intention in him who is guilty of it. This is perhaps carrying Charity to an Extravagance, but it is certainly much more Laudable, than to suppose, as the ill-natured part of the World does, that indifferent, and even Good Actions, proceed from bad Principles and wrong Intentions.

In the third Place, a Man should examine his Heart, whether he does not find in it a secret Inclination to propagate such Reports, as tend to the Disreputation of another.

When the Disease of the Mind, which I have hitherto been speaking of, arises to this Degree of Malignity it discovers its self in its worst Symptoms, and is in danger of becoming incurable. I need not therefore insist upon the Guilt in this last Particular, which every one cannot but disapprove, who is not void of Humanity, or even common Discretion.

I shall only add, that whatever Pleasure any Man may take in spreading Whispers of this Nature, he will find an infinitely greater Satisfaction in conquering the Temptation he is under, by letting the Secret die within his own Breast.

[Footnote 1: [that]]

[Footnote 2: Stobaji, Serm. 61.]

[Footnote 3: Felibien, Description de l'Abbaye de la Trappe, Paris, 1671, reprinted in 1682. It is a letter from M. Felibien to the d.u.c.h.ess of Liancon.]

No. 595. Friday, September 17, 1714.

'--Non ut placidis coeant immitia, non ut Serpentes avibus geminentur, tigribus agni--'

Hor.

If ordinary Authors would condescend to write as they think, they would at least be allow'd the Praise of being intelligible. But they really take Pains to be ridiculous; and, by the studied Ornaments of Style, perfectly disguise the little Sense they aim at. There is a Grievance of this Sort in the Common-wealth of Letters, which I have for some time resolved to redress, and accordingly I have set this Day apart for Justice. What I mean is, the _Mixture of inconsistent Metaphors_, which is a Fault but too often found in learned Writers, but in all the unlearned without Exception.

In order to set this Matter in a clear Light to every Reader, I shall in the first Place observe, that a Metaphor is a Simile in one Word, which serves to convey the Thoughts of the Mind under Resemblances and Images which affect the Senses. There is not any thing in the World, which may not be compared to several Things, if considered in several distinct Lights; or, in other Words, the same thing may be expressed by different Metaphors. But the Mischief is, that an unskilful Author shall run these Metaphors so absurdly into one another, that there shall be no Simile, no agreeable Picture, no apt Resemblance, but Confusion, Obscurity, and Noise. Thus I have known a Hero compared to a Thunderbolt, a Lion, and the Sea; all and each of them proper Metaphors for impetuosity, Courage or Force. But by bad Management it hath so happened, that the Thunder-bolt hath overflowed its Banks; the Lion hath been darted through the Skies, and the Billows have rolled out of the _Libyan_ Desart.