THE DESIGN.
Having proposed to write some pieces of Human Life and Manners, such as (to
use my Lord Bacon's expression) come home to Men's Business and Bosoms, I
thought it more satisfactory to begin with considering Man in the abstract,
his Nature and his State; since, to prove any moral duty, to enforce any
moral precept, or to examine the perfection or imperfection of any creature
whatsoever, it is necessary first to know what condition and relation it is
placed in, and what is the proper end and purpose of its being.
The science of Human Nature is, like all other sciences, reduced to a few
clear points: there are not many certain truths in this world. It is
therefore in the anatomy of the Mind as in that of the Body; more good will
accrue to mankind by attending to the large, open, and perceptible parts,
than by studying too much such finer nerves and vessels, the conformations
and uses of which will for ever escape our observation. The disputes are
all upon these last, and, I will venture to say, they have less sharpened
the wits than the hearts of men against each other, and have diminished the
practice more than advanced the theory of Morality. If I could flatter
myself that this Essay has any merit, it is in steering betwixt the
extremes of doctrines seemingly opposite, in passing over terms utterly
unintelligible, and in forming a temperate yet not inconsistent, and a
short yet not imperfect system of Ethics.
This I might have done in prose, but I chose verse, and even rhyme, for two
reasons. The one will appear obvious; that principles, maxims, or precepts
so written, both strike the reader more strongly at first, and are more
easily retained by him afterwards: the other may seem odd, but is true, I
found I could express them more shortly this way than in prose itself; and
nothing is more certain, than that much of the force as well as grace of
arguments or instructions depends on their conciseness. I was unable to
treat this part of my subject more in detail, without becoming dry and
tedious; or more poetically, without sacrificing perspicuity to ornament,
without wandering from the precision, or breaking the chain of reasoning:
if any man can unite all these without diminution of any of them I freely
confess he will compass a thing above my capacity.
What is now published is only to be considered as a general Map of Man,
marking out no more than the greater parts, their extent, their limits, and
their connection, and leaving the particular to be more fully delineated in
the charts which are to follow. Consequently, these Epistles in their
progress (if I have health and leisure to make any progress) will be less
dry, and more susceptible of poetical ornament. I am here only opening the
fountains, and clearing the passage. To deduce the rivers, to follow them
in their course, and to observe their effects, may be a task more
agreeable. P.
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