But there are other paffions and affections, that have a still lefs friendly influence, and which are apt to give a wrong bias to the mind. Such is that keenness and bitterness of spirit, which difpofeth a man to find fault, and to pur the most unfavourable conftructions upon perfons and things. I will not charge the late Lord Bolingbroke with having been really under the influence of fuch a temper; but there are several things in his Letters which have that appearance. In his Reflections upon Exile he layeth it down as a rule, to live and write without passion ; he talks as if he had got above all outward evils, and had attained to a perfect tranquility. And yet in these very Reflections there are feveral paffages that discover a very strong refentment, and great bitterness of fpirit. He there intimates, that "his country had reaped the benefit of his fer"vices, and he fuffered for them-That the per"fons in oppofition to whom he served, and tr even faved the public, confpired and accom"plifhed his private ruin: That these were his "accufers, and the giddy ungrateful croud his judges: That art joined to malice endeavoured to make his best actions pafs for crimes, and to ftain his character- That for this purpose "the facred voice of the Senate was made to pronounce a lie; and thofe records, which ought to be the eternal monuments of truth, "become the vouchers of impofture and calumny. This is very ftrongly expreffed. * Vol. II. p. 270, 271.

I shall

I shall not at present inquire into the truth and juftness of thofe Reflections. I fhall only observe, that this is not the language of a man who lives and writes without paffion, or who is fo indifferent to common cenfure or approbation, as he profeffeth himself to be *. Nor is it eafy to reconcile this with that philofophic calmness, that moderation, and tranquility of mind, which he fometimes maketh fo great a fhew of. There are feveral parts of his Letters, as I may have occafion more diftinctly to obferve afterwards, in which he expreffeth himself with all the rage and virulence of a paffionate party-writer.

It were not fo much to be wondered at, if he discovered a resentment against those whom he might apprehend to be the authors of his fufferings; but there are several things that look as if he were out of humour with mankind. Of the Critics, Chronologers, Antiquaries, and of the learned in general, even those of them that have been in the highest reputation, he frequently expreffeth the utmost contempt. He inveighs feverely against the Divines, antient and modern; and reprefents even those of them, who, he fays, may be called fo without a fneer, as not fagacious or not honeft enough, to make an impartial examination. The gentlemen of the Law fall under his heavy cenfure; and he will fcarce allow, that fince Lord Bacon, and the Earl of Clarendon, there have been any of them that have attained to any eminent degree of Vol. I. p. 6.

learning

learning and knowlege; and he taketh upon him to foretel, that except there should come fome better age, there will not be any fuch among them for the future. The Members of Parliament he reprefents as regarding the business of Parliament only as a trade; that few know, and scarce any respect, the British conftitution, and that the very idea of wit, and all that can be called taste, has been lost among the Great. Such general cenfures might be expected in a writer that profeffedly fets himself to display his talents in fatire and ridicule; but do not look fo well in one that appeareth in a fuperior charac-, ter, and who taketh upon him to inftruct and guide, to form mens tafte, and direct their conduct, and enable them to pass right judgments on persons and things. Such a temper is not a very good difpofition for an impartial inquiry; it is apt to reprefent perfons and things in a dif advantageous light, and to give a malignant tincture to the Reflections: nor is it very furprifing to fee a writer of this turn pass harth and fevere cenfures, not only on the adminiftra tion, but on the religion, of his country.

All the ufe I would make of thefe obfervations is, to keep us from fuffering ourselves to be too ftrongly biaffed in favour of a writer fo diftinguifhed by his abilities, and who putteth on fuch specious appearances.

I fhall now proceed to a more distinct exami nation of Lord Bolingbroke's Letters.

In them we may find, as hath been already hinted, many good and fine observations relating to the study and ufe of hiftory; delivered with great clearness of expreffion, and propriety of fentiment. His directions are full of good fenfe, and many of them very aptly illuftrated by proper and well-chofen inftances. In general, it must be allowed, that his obfervations concerning the usefulness of history, the advantages he ascribes to it, and the ends to be proposed in it, are, for the most part, juft; but there is not much in them that can be regarded as perfectly new. I do not say this by way of difparagement, to detract from the merit of his Reflections: perhaps on such a subject it is scarce poffible to make any observation which hath not been made by fome one or other before. It is a fufficient commendation of an author, if he hath placed his reflections and obfervations in an agreeable and advantageous light, if he hath difpofed them in a beautiful order, and illuftrated his rules by proper exemplifications. But his Lordship feems not to be contented with the praife of having done this. He appears to be extremely defirous to have it thought, that his obfervations are not only juft, but new, and fuch as other writers have not made before him. He declareth, in a paffage cited before from his first Letter, that the rules he gives" are very "different from those which writers on the fame fubject have recommended, and which are

"commonly

"commonly practifed *."And that-" he "will have no regard to the methods prescribed "by others, or to the opinion and practice even "of the learned world †."- And he speaks to the fame purpose in his third letter . And after having declared, that the ftudy of history will prepare us for action and observation; and that "history is converfant about the past; " and by knowing the things that have been,

cr my hands."

we become better able to judge of the things "that are," he adds,- "This ufe, my Lord, "which I make the proper and principal ufe of "the study of history, is not infifted on by those "who have writ concerning the method to be "followed in this study; and fince we propose "different ends, we must of course take dif"ferent ways §. He immediately fubjoins, Few of their treatises have fallen into And is it not a little strange, that he fhould fo pofitively pronounce, that others have not, in their treatifes concerning the method to be followed in the study of hiftory, infifted on that which he makes the proper and principal use of it, when at the fame time he acknowlegeth, that few of their treatises had fallen into his hands? One would think by his way of representing it, that none before this noble writer had mentioned it as the proper ufe and end of history to promote our improvement in virtue, to make us better men and better + Ib. p. 69.

** Vol. I. P: I § Ib. p. 67, 68.

† Ib. p. 2.

citizens,