Animal, and are to be excufed for borrowing of thofe Creatures, to which Nature has been kinder, in this refpect, than to us, in order to drefs ourselves with their Finery, and to cover ourselves with their Spoils of Wool, Feathers, Hair, Silk, &c. For the reft, 'tis obfervable, that Man is the only Animal whofe Nakedness is offenfive to his own Companions, and the only Creature who steals from his own Species to perform the Offices of Nature. Indeed, 'tis alfo a Fact worthy of Confideration, that they who are Connoiffeurs in the Myfteries of Love, prescribe, as a Remedy for the amorous Paffion, and to cool the Heat of it, a free Sight of the beloved Object. Ille quod obfcanas in aperto corpore partes The Lover, when thofe Nudities appear And, although this Receipt may, perhaps, proceed from a nice and cold Humour, yet 'tis a ftrange Sign of our Imperfection, that Habit and Acquaintance fhould make us out of Love with one another. 'Tis not Modesty, fo much as Art and Prudence, that renders our Ladies fo circumfpect as to refuse us Admittance to their Closets before they are painted and dressed for public View. Nec Veneres noftras hoc fallit, quò magis ipfæ i. t. Of this our Ladies are full well aware, Which makes them, with fuch Privacy and Care, Likely to quench the Flame of those they love. Whereas, in many Animals, there is nothing which we do not love, and which does not pleafe our Senfes, fo that, even from their Excrements and Discharges, we not only Ovid. de Remed. Amor. lib. ii. v. 33, 34. V. 1178, &c. extract Lucret, lib. iv. extract Dainties for our Table, but our richest Ornaments and Perfumes. This Difcourfe only concerns our common Class of Women, and is not fo facrilegious as to comprehend those divine, fupernatural, and extraordinary Beauties that shine amongst us, like Stars under a corporeal and terreftrial Veil. Man lays Claim to imaginary Happinefs, and leaves that which is real to the Ani mals. As to the reft, the very Share of Nature's Favours, that we allow to the Animals, by our own Confeffion, is very much to their Advantage: We attribute to ourselves Benefits that are imaginary and fantastical, fuch too as are future and abfent, and for which it is not in the Power of Man to be anfwerable; or Benefits that we falfely attribute to ourselves by the Licentioufnefs of our Opinion; fuch as Reason, Knowledge, and Honour: And to the Animals we leave, for their Share, Benefits that are fubftantial, agreeable, and manifeft, fuch as Peace, Reft, Safety, Innocence, and Health; I fay, Health, which is the fairest and richest Present that is in the Power of Nature to make to us, infomuch that the Philofophers, even the Stoic, are fo bold as to fay, that Heraclitus and Pherecydas, if it had been poffible for them to have exchanged their Wisdom for Health, and thereby to have delivered themselves, the one from the Dropfy, the other from the loufy Disease, would have made a good Bargain. By this they fet the greater Value upon Wisdom, comparing and putting it into the Balance of Health, than they do in the following Propofition, which is also theirs. Wherein con fifts the Juperior Excellence, of Man to the Beafts. They fay, that if Circe had given two Draughts to Ulyffes, the one to make a Fool wife, and the other to make a wife Man a Fool, Ulyffes ought rather to have chose the last, than to have confented, that Circe fhould change his human Figure into that of a Beaft. And they fay, that Wisdom itself would have spoke to him after this. manner: Forfake me, let me alone, rather than lodge me under the Figure and Body of an Afs.' What! Is this 1 Plutarch, in his Tract of the Common Conceptions, against the Stoics, c. 8. of Amyor's Translation. Animal, and are to be excufed for borrowing of those Creatures, to which Nature has been kinder, in this refpect, than to us, in order to drefs ourselves with their Finery, and to cover ourselves with their Spoils of Wool, Feathers, Hair, Silk, &c. For the reft, 'tis obfervable, that Man is the only Animal whofe Nakedness is offenfive to his own Companions, and the only Creature who steals from his own Species to perform the Offices of Nature. Indeed, 'tis alfo a Fact worthy of Confideration, that they who are Connoiffeurs in the Myfteries of Love, prescribe, as a Remedy for the amorous Paffion, and to cool the Heat of it, a free Sight of the beloved Object. Ille quod obfcanas in aperto corpore partes Viderat, in curfu qui fuit bafit amor ". i. e. The Lover, when thofe Nudities appear And, although this Receipt may, perhaps, proceed from a nice and cold Humour, yet 'tis a ftrange Sign of our Imperfection, that Habit and Acquaintance fhould make us out of Love with one another. 'Tis not Modesty, fo much as Art and Prudence, that renders our Ladies fo circumfpect as to refufe us Admittance to their Closets before they are painted and dressed for public View. Nec Veneres noftras boc fallit, quò magis ipfæ i. e. Of this our Ladies are full well aware, Which makes them, with fuch Privacy and Care, Likely to quench the Flame of those they love. Whereas, in many Animals, there is nothing which we do not love, and which does not pleafe our Senfes, fo that, even from their Excrements and Discharges, we not only extract Ovid. de Remed. Amor. lib. ii. v. 33, 34. V. 1178, &c. Lucret, lib. ivs extract Dainties for our Table, but our richest Ornaments and Perfumes. This Difcourfe only concerns our common Class of Women, and is not fo facrilegious as to comprehend those divine, fupernatural, and extraordinary Beauties that shine amongst us, like Stars under a corporeal and terreftrial Veil. Man lays Claim to ima ginary Happines, and leaves that which is real to the Ani mals. As to the reft, the very Share of Nature's Favours, that we allow to the Animals, by our own Confeffion, is very much to their Advantage: We attribute to ourselves Benefits that are imaginary and fantastical, fuch too as are future and abfent, and for which it is not in the Power of Man to be anfwerable; or Benefits that we falfely attribute to ourselves by the Licentioufnefs of our Opinion; fuch as Reason, Knowledge, and Honour: And to the Animals we leave, for their Share, Benefits that are fubftantial, agreeable, and manifeft, fuch as Peace, Reft, Safety, Innocence, and Health; I fay, Health, which is the fairest and richest Present that is in the Power of Nature to make to us, infomuch that the Philofophers, even the Stoic, are so bold as to fay, that Heraclitus and Pherecydas, if it had been poffible for them to have exchanged their Wisdom for Health, and thereby to have delivered themselves, the one from the Dropfy, the other from the loufy Disease, would have made a good Bargain. By this they fet the greater Value upon Wisdom, comparing and putting it into the Balance of Health, than they do in the following Propofition, which is also theirs. Wherein con fifts the fuperior Excellence of Man to the Beafts. They say, that if Circe had given twa Draughts to Ulyffes, the one to make a Fool wife, and the other to make a wife Man a Fool, Ulyffes ought rather to have chose the laft, than to have confented, that Circe fhould change his human Figure into that of a Beast. And they say, that Wisdom itself would have fpoke to him after this. manner: Forfake me, let me alone, rather than lodge ⚫ me under the Figure and Body of an Afs.' What! Is this 1 Plutarch, in his Tract of the Common Conceptions, against the Stoics, c. 8. of Amyor's Tranflation. this Great and Divine Wifdom then abandoned by the Philofophers for this corporeal and terreftrial Vail? At this Rate 'tis not by Reafon, Converfation, and by a Soul that we excel the Beafts; 'tis by our Beauty, our fair Complexion, and the curious Difpofition of our Limbs, for all which we must quite give up our Understanding, our Wisdom, and all the reft. Well, I approve this natural and free Confeffion; certainly they knew that those Parts, with which we make fuch a Parade, are only mere Fancy. Though the Beafts therefore had all the Virtue, Knowledge, Wisdom, and Stoical Sufficiency, they would ftill be Beafts, and would not be comparable to Man, wretched, wicked, and fenfelefs Man: For, in fine, whatever is not as we are, is worth nothing; and a God, to procure himself Esteem, muft condefcend to the fame, as we shall fhew anon. By this it appears, that 'tis not by folid Reafon, but by a foolish and ftubborn Pride, that we prefer ourselves to the other Animals, and feparate ourfelves from their Condition and Society. But, to return to my Subject, we have, to our Share, Inconftancy, Irrefolution, Uncertainty, Sorrow, Superstition, a Sollicitude for Things to come, even after our Lives, Ambition, Avarice, Jealousy, Envy, irregular Appetites that are raging and untameable, War, Lying, Difloyalty, Detraction, and Curiofity; furely we have strangely overpaid for this fame fine Reason, on which we so much value ourselves, and for this Capacity of judging and knowing, if we have bought it at the Price of that infinite Number of Paffions to which we are eternally fubject; unless we fhall think fit, as Socrates indeed does, to throw into the other Scale this notable Prerogative of Man over the Beasts, that, whereas Nature has prefcribed to the latter certain Seafons and Limits for Venereal Pleasure, it has given the Reins to the former at all Hours and Occafions. Ut vinum ægrotis, quia prodeft rarò, nocet fæpiffimè, melius eft non adhibere omninò, quàm, fpe dubiæ falutis, k 1 in * Xenophontis Arounμovúμ. lib. iv. c. 4. fect. 12. Kai (QEDÚs) Tas TŵU ἀφροδισίων ἡδονὰς τοῖς μὲν, ἄλλοις ζώοις δοῦναι, περιγράψαλας τῇ ἔτες χρόνον, ἡμῖν δὲ συνεχώς μέχα γείρως ταῦτα παρέχειν. Cic. de Nat. Deor. lib. iii. c. 27. Edit. Gronov. |