own Mind, the most exalted Pleasure He receives is No. 588.
from beholding Millions of Creatures, lately drown out Wednes
of the Gulph of Non-existence, rejoycing in the various day,
Sept. 1,
Degrees of Being and Happiness imparted to them. And 1714,
as this is the true, the glorious Character of the Deity,
so in forming a reasonable Creature He would not, if
possible, suffer his Image to pass out of his Hands
unadorned with a Resemblance of Himself in this most
lovely Part of his Nature. For what Complacency could
a Mind, whose Love is as unbounded as his Knowledge,
have in a Work so unlike Himself? a Creature that
should be capable of knowing and conversing with a
vast Circle of Objects, and love none but Himself?
What Proportion would there be between the Head and
the Heart of such a Creature, its Affections, and its
Understanding? Or could a Society of such Creatures,
with no other Bottom but Self-Love on which to maintain
a Commerce, ever flourish? Reason, 'tis certain, would
oblige every Man to pursue the general Happiness, as
the Means to procure and establish his own; and yet
if, besides this Consideration, there were not a natural
Instinct, prompting Men to desire the Welfare and
Satisfaction of others, Self-Love, in Defiance of the
Admonitions of Reason, would quickly run all Things
into a State of War and Confusion. As nearly interested
as the Soul is in the Fate of the Body, our provident
Creator saw it necessary, by the constant Returns of
Hunger and Thirst, those importunate Appetites, to put
it in Mind of its Charge; knowing, that if we should
eat and drink no oftener than cold abstracted Speculation
should put us upon these Exercises, and then leave it
to Reason to prescribe the Quantity, we should soon
refine our selves out of this bodily Life. And, indeed,
'tis obvious to remark, that we follow nothing heartily,
unless carried to it by Inclinations which anticipate our
Reason, and, like a Biass, draw the Mind strongly towards
it. In order, therefore, to establish a perpetual Intercourse
of Benefits amongst Mankind, their Maker would not fail
to give them this generous Prepossession of Benevolence,
if, as I have said, it were possible. And from whence
can we go about to argue its Impossibility? Is it incon
sistent

VIII.

H

:

day, Sept. 1, 1714,

No. 588, sistent with Self-love? Are their Motions contrary? Wednes No more than the diurnal Rotation of the Earth is opposed to its Annual; or its Motion round its own Center, which may be improved as an Illustration of Self-Love, to that which whirls it about the common Center of the World, answering to universal Benevo lence, Is the Force of Self-Love abated, or its Interest prejudiced by Benevolence? So far from it, that Benevo lence, though a distinct Principle, is extreamly serviceable to Self-Love, and then doth most Service when 'tis least designed,

But to descend from Reason to Matter of Fact; the Pity which arises on sight of Persons in Distress, and the Satisfaction of Mind which is the Consequence of hav ing removed them into a happier State, are instead of a thousand Arguments to prove such a thing as a disinterested Benevolence, Did Pity proceed from a Re flection we make upon our Liableness to the same ill Accidents we see befall others, it were nothing to the present Purpose; but this is assigning an artifical Cause of a natural Passion, and can by no Means be admitted as a tolerable Account of it, because Children, and Persons most Thoughtless about their own Condition, and incapable of entering into the Prospects of Futurity, feel the most violent Touches of Compassion. And then as to that charming Delight which immediately follows the giving Joy to another, or relieving his Sorrow, and is, when the Objects are numerous, and the Kindness of Importance, really inexpressible, what can this be owing to but Consciousness of a Man's having done something Praiseworthy, and expressive of a great Soul? Whereas, if in all this he only Sacrificed to Vanity and Self-Love, as there would be nothing brave in Actions that make the most shining Appearance, so Nature would not have rewarded them with this divine Pleasure; nor could the Commendations, which a Person receives for Benefits done upon selfish Views, be at all more Satisfactory, than when he is applauded for what he doth without Design; because in both Cases the Ends of Self-Love are equally answered. The Conscience of approving ones self a Benefactor to Mankind is the noblest Recompence

Recompence for being so; doubtless it is, and the most No. 588, interested cannot propose any thing so much to their Wednes own Advantage, notwithstanding which, the Inclination day, Sept. 1, is nevertheless unselfish. The Pleasure which attends 1714, the Gratification of our Hunger and Thirst, is not the Cause of these Appetites; they are previous to any such Prospect; and so likewise is the Desire of doing Good; with this Difference, that being seated in the Intellectual Part, this last, though antecedent to Reason, may yet be improved and regulated by it, and, I will add, is no other wise a Virtue than as it is so. Thus have I contended for the Dignity of that Nature I have the Honour to partake of, and, after all the Evidence produced, think I have a Right to conclude, against the Motto of this Paper, that there is such a thing as Generosity in the World. Though if I were under a Mistake in this I should say, as Cicero in Relation to the Immortality of the Soul, I willingly err, and should believe it very much for the Interest of Mankind to lye under the same Delusion. For the contrary Notion_naturally tends to dispirit the Mind, and sinks it into a Meanness fatal to the God-like Zeal of doing good. As on the other hand, it teaches People to be Ungrateful, by possessing them with a Perswasion concerning their Benefactors, that they have no Regard to them in the Benefits they bestow, Now he that banishes Gratitude from among Men, by so doing stops up the Stream of Beneficence. For though in con ferring Kindnesses, a truly generous Man doth not aim at a Return, yet he looks to the Qualities of the Person obliged, and as nothing renders a Person more unworthy of a Benefit, than his being without all Resentment of it, he will not be extreamly forward to oblige such a Man.

1714.

I

Friday, September 3,

Persequítur scelus ille suum labefactaque tandem
Ictibus innumeris adductaque funibus arbor
Corruit--Ovid,

• Sir,

AM so great an Admirer of Trees, that the Spot of Ground I have chosen to build a small Seat upon, in the Country, is almost in the midst of a large Wood, I was obliged, much against my Will, to cut down several Trees, that I might have any such thing as a Walk in my Gardens; but then I have taken Care to leave the Space, between every Walk, as much a Wood as I found it. The Moment you turn either to the Right or Left, you are in a Forest, where Nature presents you with a much more beautiful Scene than could have been raised by Art, Instead of Tulips or Carnations, I can shew you Oakes in my Gardens of four hundred Years standing, and a Knot of Elms that might shelter a Troop of Horse from the Rain,

It is not without the utmost Indignation, that I observe several prodigal young Heirs in the Neighbourhood, felling down the most glorious Monuments of their Ancestors' Industry, and ruining, in a Day, the Product of Ages,

I am mightily pleased with your Discourse upon Planting, which put me upon looking into my Books to give you some Account of the Veneration the Ancients had for Trees. There is an old Tradition, that Abraham planted a Cypress, a Pine, and a Cedar, and that these three incorporated into one Tree, which was cut down for the building of the Temple of Solomon, Isidorus, who lived in the Reign of Constantius, assures us that he saw, even in his Time, that famous Oak in the Plains of Mambré, under which Abraham is reported to have dwelt, and adds, that the People looked upon it with a great Veneration, and preserved it as a Sacred Tree,

The Heathens still went farther, and regarded it as the highest Piece of Sacrilege to injure certain Trees

which

The No. 589,

which they took to be protected by some Deity, Story of Erisicthon, the Grove at Dodona, and that at Friday, Delphi, are all Instances of this Kind,

If we consider the Machine in Virgil, so much blamed by several Criticks, in this Light, we shall hardly think it too violent.

Eneas, when he built his Fleet, in order to sail for Italy, was obliged to cut down the Grove on Mount Ida, which however he durst not do till he had obtained Leave from Cybele, to whom it was dedicated. The Goddess could not but think her self obliged to protect these Ships, which were made of Consecrated Timber, after a very extraordinary Manner, and therefore desired Jupiter, that they might not be obnoxious to the Power of Waves or Winds. Jupiter would not grant this, but promised her, that as many as came safe to Italy should be trans formed into Goddesses of the Sea; which the Poet tells us was accordingly executed.

And now at length the number'd Hours were come,
Prefix'd by Fate's irrevocable Doom,

When the great Mother of the Gods was free

To save her Ships, and finish Jove's Decree,

First, from the Quarter of the Morn, there sprung
A Light that sign'd the Heav'ns, and shot along:
Then from a Cloud, fring'd round with Golden Fires,
Were Timbrels heard, and Berecynthian Quires :
And last a Voice, with more than Mortal Sounds,
Both Hosts in Arms oppos'd with equal Horror wounds.
O Trojan Race, your needless Aid forbear;
And know my Ships are my peculiar Care,
With greater Ease the bold Rutulian may,

With hissing Brands, attempt to burn the Sea,

Than singe my sacred Pines. But you my Charge,
Loos'd from your crooked Anchors launch at large,
Exalted each a Nymph: Forsake the Sand,
And swim the Seas, at Cybele's Command.
No sooner had the Goddess ceas'd to speak,
When lo, th' obedient Ships their Haulsers break;
And, strange to tell, like Dolphins in the Main,
They plunge their Prows, and dive, and spring again :
As many beauteous Maids the Billows sweep,
As rode before tall Vessels on the Deep.

Dryden's Virg.

The common Opinion concerning the Nymphs, whom the Ancients called Hamadryads, is more to the Honour

Sept. 3,

1714.

of