A Critical Essay on Characteristic-Writings | Page 7

A covetous Man may be impudent, or he may have some share of Modesty left: On the other Hand, an impudent Man may be generous, or his Character may be stain'd by Avarice. And therefore to make the Features of one Virtue or Vice enter, as under Parts, into the Character of another Virtue or Vice, is so far from being a Transgression of the Nature of Things, that, on the contrary, all the Beauty of _Characteristic-Writing_, and all the Beauty which arises from the Variety of an agreeable Mixture, entirely depends on this. The main Difficulty consists in making the Master-Passion operate so conspicuously throughout the Whole, as that the Reader may, in every step of the Performance, immediately discover it.
The Truth of it is, that there are some Affections of the Mind, which not only constitute of themselves a distinct Virtue or Vice, but are also the Foundation of many others. Avarice is of this extensive Nature; it constitutes, of it self, a distinct Character, and it enters into the Competition of several others. St. Paul says, that _the love of money is the root of all evil_; which Maxim the spurious Phocylides has express'd in the following Verse,
+Hê philochrêmosunê mêtêr kakotêtos hapasês.+
This Doctrine may be made yet more sensible by applying it to the Practice of Theophrastus, whose Conduct, in this Respect, ought to be look'd upon as an authentick Pattern. Rusticity, Avarice and Impudence, are in their own Nature distinct Vices, but yet there is a very near Relation between them, which has a real Foundation in the Actions of Men. And, as on the one Hand, Theophrastus has drawn distinct Characters of these Vices, so, on the other Hand, he has made the peculiar Features of one or more of these Vices enter into the Characters of the other. This is Matter of Fact; and if the Reader will be at the Pains to compare the _6th_, _9th_, and _11th_,
Chapters
, as he will be perswaded of the Truth of what is here asserted, so will he be convinc'd, at the same Time, that Theophrastus has not confounded by this Mixture the real Nature of Things, or transgress'd thereby, in any wise, the Rules of _Characteristic-Justice_.
Again; Loquacity and an ill-tim'd Behaviour are two very different Vices in common Conversation; but yet Theophrastus has concluded his Character of Loquacity, with the same Stroke which begins that of an ill-tim'd Behaviour; because tho' these Vices are of a different Nature, yet do they not exclude each other; and the Actions of Men manifestly prove, that they are frequently to be found in the same Subject.
The nice Reader therefore, instead of being offended to find the peculiar Features of one Vice interspers'd in the Character of another, ought, on the contrary, to admire the Judgment and Accuracy of Theophrastus in this Respect: For this Mixture does not proceed from Inaccuracy, but is founded in Nature: And 'tis the Work of a sagacious Head, as well to discover the near Relations that are between different things, as to separate those Things, which by Nature are nearly related, but yet are really distinct.
The Beauty of every Kind of Writing arises from the Conformity which it bears to Nature; and therefore the Excellency of _Characteristic-Writings_ must consist in exact Representations of human Nature.--This Harmony between Art and Nature may be call'd Justice: And tho' the Boundaries of it may be more extensive in those Works, in which a greater Range is allow'd to the Imagination, yet still, Invention and Fiction must be admitted in _Characteristic- Writings_, when the Characters design'd are of a general Nature; for then the Writer does not copy from an individual Original, and all the Extravagances of Nature are natural, when they are well represented.
It requires, I own, a great deal of Penetration to hit exactly this Point of Reality: But then it must be confess'd, that as the great difficulty of _Characteristic-Writing_ consists in this, so does the main Beauty and Force of it too: For Objects are apt to affect and move us according to their Presence or Absence; and a Character will naturally strike us more forcibly, the more the Images, which it consists of, are lively and natural; because the Object is then most present to our Mind.
Since every Feature must be drawn exactly to the Life, great Care must be taken, that the Strokes be not too faint, nor yet too strong: For Characteristic-Justice is to be observ'd as strictly by the Writers of this Kind, as Poetic-Justice is to be by Poets. That Medium must be copied, which Nature it self has mark'd out; whatever falls short of it is poor and insipid, whatever is above it is Rant and Extravagance.
[E] _Quodcunque ostendis mihi sic, incredulus odi._
And whatsoever contradicts my Sense, I