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An Essay On ManThe Design
The Design
To H. St. John, L. Bolingbroke
Having proposed to write some pieces on human life and manners, such as
(to use my lord Bacon`s expression) came 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 it 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 any 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, but 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.
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