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Page 12
[J] Otium ingera rubig. [Transcriber's Note: "rubig" not readable,
may be the word for rust or stiffness.]
Men should guard against this Mischief with great Care. A
_Genius_ once squandered away by neglect, is not easily to be
recovered. _Tacitus_ assigns a very proper Reason for this.
"[K]Such is the Nature, saith he, of Humane Infirmity, that
Remedies cannot be applied, as quick as Mischiefs may be
suffered; and as the Body must grow up by slow Degrees, but is
presently destroyed; so you may stifle a _Genius_ much more
easily than you can recover it. For you'll soon relish Ease and
Inactivity, and be in Love with Sloth, which was once your
Aversion." This can hardly fail of raining the best Capacity,
especially, if from a neglect of severer Business, Men run into a
Dissolution of Manners, which is the too common Consequence. The
greatest Minds have thus been often wholly enervated, and the
best Parts buried in utter Obscurity.
[K] Natura infirmitatis humanae, tadiora sunt remedia
quam mala; & ut corpora lente augescunt, cito extinguuntur,
sic ingenia studiaque oppresseris, facilius quam revocaveris;
subit quippe ipsius inertiae dulcedo, et invisa primo desidia
postremo amatur. Tacit. Vit. Agricol. c. 3.
Though the Rules of Art may be of great Service to improve a
_Genius_, it is very prejudicial, in many Cases, to fetter it
self with these Rules, or confine itself within those Limits
which others have fixed. How little would Science have been
improv'd, if every new _Genius_, that applies himself to any
Branch of it, had made other Mens Light, his _ne plus_ _ultra_,
and resolved to go no farther into it, than the Road had been
beaten before him. No doubt there were Men of as good natural
Abilities in the Ages before the Revival of Learning, as there
have been since. But they were cramped with the Jargon of a wordy
and unintelligible Philosophy, and durst not give themselves the
Liberty to think in Religion, without the Boundaries fixed by the
Church, for fear of Anathemas, and an Inquisition. Till those
Fetters were broken, little Advance was made, for many Ages
together, in any useful or solid Knowledge. In truth, every Man
who makes a new Discovery, goes at first by himself; and as long
as the greatest Minds are Content to go in Leading-strings, they
will be but upon a Level with their Neighbours.
On the other Hand, Capacities of a lower size must be obliged to
more of Imitation. All their Usefulness will be spoiled by forming
too high Models for themselves. If they will be of Service, they
must be content to keep the beaten Road. Should they attempt to
soar too high, they will only meet with _Icarus_'s Fate. A common
_Genius_ will serve many common Purposes exceeding well, and
render a Man conspicuous enough, tho' there may be no
distinguishing Splendor about him to dazzle the Beholders Eyes.
But if he attempts any Thing beyond his Strength, he is sure to
lose the Lustre which he had, if he does not also weaken his
Capacity, and impair his _Genius_ into the Bargain. So just in
all Cases is the Poet's Advice to Writers.
_Sumite Materiam vestris qui scribitis aquam
Veribus_. Horat.
_Weigh well your Strength_, _and never undertake
What is above your Power_.
And this brings to Mind another very common Occasion of ruining
many a good _Genius_; I mean, wrong Application. Nothing will
satisfie Parents, but their Children must apply their Minds to
one of the learned Professions, when, instead of consulting the
Reputation or Interest of their Children, by such a preposterous
Choice, they turn them out to live in an Element no way suited to
their Nature, and expose them to Contempt and Beggary all their
Days; while at the same Time they spoil an Head, admirably turn'd
for Traffick or Mechanicks. And he is left to bring up the Rear
in the learned Profession, or it may be lost in the Crowd, who
would have shined in Trade, and made a prime Figure upon the
Exchange. Many have by this Means _run their Heads against a
Pulpit_, (as a Satyrical _Genius_ once expressed it) _who would
have made admirable Ploughmen_.
There is a different Taste in Men, as to the learned Professions
themselves, which qualities and disposes them for the one, but
would never make them appear with any Lustre in another. This has
been often made evident in the different Figures, which some, who
lived in Obscurity before, have made upon a lucky Incident that
led them out of the mistaken Track into which they were first
put. Where Providence does not relieve a _Genius_ from this Error
in setting out, the Man must be kept under the Hatches all his
Days.
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