The Design
Having proposed to write some pieces on Human Life and Manners, such as (to use my Lord Bacon's expression)
come 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 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 wandring from the precision, or breaking the chain of reasoning: If any man can unite all these without 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
, and 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.
P.