Humour; for I had rather be fick in your Company, than for want of it; who am, Dear Sir, Your most unalterable Friend, W. WYCHERLEY LETTER LXXXI. Dear Sir, ΤΗ HE last time I was at Will's, I had the Mor tification to hear, that our Friend Mr. had met with a Difappointment in; at which, fome who were prefent, were glad, affirming, that Succefs would have thrown him out of his Element; for that a Man of Wit is not qualified for Business fo well as a Blockhead: I have fince had fome Thoughts concerning that Matter which I here fend you, and of which I defire your Opi nion. Upon Reflection I have found out the following Reasons, why Blockheads are thought to be fitteft for Bufinefs, and why they really fucceed in it. First, As their Brains are a great deal colder than thofe are of Men of Wit, they must have but very ftrait Imaginations, and very barren Inventions; from whence it follows, that they have but very few Thoughts, and that a few Objects fill their Capacities. Secondly, It is reasonable enough to believe, that fince they are uncapable of many Thoughts, those those few which they have are determin'd by their Neceffities, their Appetites, and their Defires, to what they call their Fortunes and their Eftablishments. Thirdly, It is not very hard to conceive, that fince a Blockhead has but few Thoughts, and perhaps but one all his Life-time, which is his Intereft, he should have it more perfect, and better digefted, than Men of Wit have the fame Thought, who perhaps have a thousand every Hour. Fourthly, It is easy to comprehend, that fince fuch a one has but a few Thoughts, or perhaps but one, which by often revolving in his Mind, he has digefted, and brought to Perfection, he fhould readily pafs from Thought to Action. For he muft grow weary of thinking so often of one and the fame Thing; and fince the Nature of the Soul requires Agitation, as foon as his little Speculation ceafes, he muft of Neceffity act to divert himself. Fifthly, It will be certainly found, that as a little Thought often makes a Man active in Bufinefs, fo a little Judgment often makes him diligent; for he may well be eager in the Purfuit of thofe Things, on which, feduc'd by Paffion and vulgar Opinion, he fets an exorbitant Value; and concerning whofe Natures and Incertainty, he is not very capable of making folid Reflections. For tho' Prudence may oblige a Man to fecure a Competency, yet never was any one by right Reafon induced to feek Superfluities. Sixthly, Penury of Thoughts fuppofes Littlenefs of Soul, which is often requifite for the fucceeding in Bufinefs: for a Blockhead is forbid enough to defcend to Trick and Artifice; G 2 which which in Business are often neceflary to procure Succefs; unless they are more than fupplied, by a Prudence deriv'd from a confummate Experience, or from a Capacity. Thus have I endeavoured to give the Reason, why a Fool fucceeds better in Business than a Man of Wit; who has a multitude of Thoughts, and which fly at the nobleft Objects; and who finds that there is fomething fo pleafing, and fo noble, in thinking rightly, and more especially in the fublime Speculations of exalted Reafon, that he finds it intolerably irksome to defcend to Action, and abhors the very Thoughts of being diligent in Things, for which he has an extream Contempt. Thus you fee, that in fome measure a Fool may be faid to be better fitted out for Business than a Man of Wit. But it is high time to diftinguifh for firft, when I fay that a Blockhead is fitted for Bufinefs, I mean only for little Bufinefs. For to affirm, that he is qualified for Affairs that require Extent of Capacity, would be a Contradiction in Terms. Secondly, When I affirm, that a Man of Wit is lefs capacitated for Business, I mean, that he is lefs fo, as long as he keeps in his natural Temper, and remains in a State of Tranquility: but if once he comes to be thrown out of that by the Force of a violent Paffion, and fir'd with Zeal for his Country's Service, or enflam'd by Ambition, and Bufinefs can be made fubfervient to the gratifying of those Paffions, then I dare boldly affirm, that one Man of Wit will go farther than a thousand of those who want it. Of which it would be eafy to give more than one Inftance amongst our prefent Minifters. But I will be content ed ed with putting you in mind, that none of the Romans had more Wit than Cæfar, and none of the French than Richelieu. Before I conclude, I muft give you a Caution which is, that by the Word Blockhead, I do not mean one that is ftupid, but that I apply that Word according to the Language of you Men of Wit, to one who thinks but a little : and that on the other fide, by a Man of Wit, I do not mean every Coxcomb whofe Imagination has got the Afcendant of his little Reafon; but a Man like you, Sir, or our most ingenious Friend, in whom Fancy and Judgment are like a well-match'd pair; the first like an extraordinary Wife, that appears always beautiful and always charming, yet is at all times decent, and at all times chafte; the fecond like a prudent and well-bred Husband, whofe very Sway fhews his Complaifance, and whose very Indulgence fhews his Authority. I am, WHEN I read a Letter fo full of my Commendations as your last, I cannot but confider you as the Mafter of a vaft Treasure, who, having more than enough for yourself, are forced G 3 to to ebb out upon your Friends. You have indeed the beft Right to give them, fince you have them in Propriety; but they are no more mine when I receive them, than the Light of the Moon can be allowed to be her own, who fhines but by the Reflection of her Brother. Your own Poetry is a more powerful Example to prove that the modern Writers may enter into Comparifon with the Ancients, than any which Perrault could produce in France; yet neither he, nor you, who are a better Critic, can perfwade me that there is any room left for a folid Commendation at this time of the Day, at least for me. If I undertake the Tranflation of Virgil, the little which I can perform will fhew, at least, that no Man is fit to write after him in a barbarous modern Tongue: neither will his Machines be of any Service to a Chriftian Poet. We fee how ineffectually they have been try'd by Taffo, and by Ariofto. 'Tis ufing them too dully if we only make Devils of his Gods: as if, for Example, I would raise a Storm, and make ufe of Eolus, with this only Difference of calling him Prince of the Air: what Invention of mine would there be in this? Or who would not fee Virgil thorough me, only the fame Trick play'd over again by a bungling Jugler? Boileau has well obferv'd, that it is an eafy matter, in a Chriftian Poem, for God to bring the Devil to Reafon. I think I have given a better Hint for new Machines, in my Preface to. Juvenal, where I have particularly recommended two Subjects, one of King Authur's Conqueft of the Saxons, and the other of the Black Prince in his Conqueft of Spain. But the Guardian Angels of Monarchies and Kingdoms, are not to be touch'd by every Hand. A |