It is odd to observe how the Humourist is affected by contemptuous Treatment. An Insult of this Sort, which justly excites the Resentment of others, terrifies him: It sets him upon suspecting himself, and upon doubting whether he be really that Person of superior Sense to the rest of the World, which he has long fancied. The Apprehension, that he actually deserves the Contempt which is put upon him, and that he is no more than one of the common Herd, almost distracts him; And instead of violently depreciating, or attacking again, the Person who has contemn'd him, he will incessantly court his Favour and good Opinion, as a Cordial he wants, though without seeming to do so. This is a very extraordinary Weakness, and such as the Humourist would be infinitely uneasy to find ever observ'd.
The Humourist, though he quickly espies, and contemns the Contradictions of others, is yet wilfully attach'd to several himself, which he will sometimes persue through a long Course of his own Mortification.--It may be often observ'd, that he will avoid the Company he likes, for fear they should think he needs their Support.--At the same time, if he happens to fall into Company, which he tallies not with, instead of avoiding this Company, he will continually haunt them: For he is anxious, lest any Imputation of a Defeat should stand out against him, and extremely sollicitous to wipe it away; Besides, he cannot endure it should be thought that he is driven from the Pit.--Thus, in the first Instance, his Pride shall persuade him to neglect the Company he likes; and shall force him, in the last, to follow the Company he hates and despises.
It is also observable that the Humourist, though he makes it his Point to regulate his Conduct only by his own Conviction, will sometimes run counter to it, merely from his Disdain of all Imitation. Thus he will persist in a wrong Course, which he knows to be such, and refuse his Compliance with an Amendment offer'd by others, rather than endure the Appearance of being an Imitator. This is a narrow Side of the Humourist; and whenever he is turn'd upon it, he feels great Uneasiness himself. It strikes a durable Pain into his Breast, like the constant gnawing of a Worm; and is one considerable Source of that Stream of Peevishnesss incident to Humourists.
Upon the same Principle of scorning all Imitation, the Humourist seldom heartily assents to any speculative Opinion, which is deliver'd by another; for he is above being inform'd or set right in his Judgment by any Person, even by a Brother Humourist. If two of this Cast happen to meet, instead of uniting together, they are afraid of each other; and you shall observe one, in order to court the good Opinion of the other, produce a Specimen of his own Perfection as an Humourist; by exhibiting some unusual Strain of sensible Oddity, or by unexpectedly biting a poor Insipid; which the other Humourist shall answer again in the same manner, in order to display his Talents.
These are the Foibles and narrow Whims of a perfect Humourist. But, on the other hand, he stands upon a very enlarged Basis; Is a Lover of Reason and Liberty; and scorns to flatter or betray; nor will he falsify his Principles, to court the Favour of the Great. He is not credulous, or fond of Religious or Philosophical Creeds or Creed-makers; But then he never offers himself to forge Articles of Faith for the rest of the World. Abounding in poignant and just Reflections; The Guardian of Freedom, and Scourge of such as do wrong. It is He checks the Frauds, and curbs the Usurpations of every Profession. The venal Biass of the assuming Judge, the cruel Pride of the starch'd Priest, the empty Froth of the florid Counsellor, the false Importance of the formal Man of Business, the specious Jargon of the grave Physician, and the creeping Taste of the trifling Connoisseur, are all bare to his Eye, and feel the Lash of his Censure; It is He that watches the daring Strides, and secret Mines of the ambitious Prince, and desperate Minister: He gives the Alarm, and prevents their Mischief. Others there are who have Sense and Foresight; but they are brib'd by Hopes or Fears, or bound by softer Ties; It is He only, the Humourist, that has the Courage and Honesty to cry out, unmov'd by personal Resentment: He flourishes only in a Land of Freedom, and when that ceases he dies too, the last and noblest Weed of the Soil of Liberty.
It is a palpable Absurdity to suppose a Person an Humourist, without excellent Sense and Abilities; as much as to suppose a Smith in his full Business, without his Hammers or Forge.--But the Humourist, as he advances in Years, is apt to grow intolerable to himself and the World; becoming at length, uneasy, and fatigued with the constant View of the same Follies; like a Person who is tir'd with seeing the same Tragi-Comedy continually acted. This sowres his Temper; And unless some favorable Incidents happen to mellow him, he resigns himself wholly to Peevishness.--By which Time he perceives that the World is quite tir'd of him.--After which he drags on the Remainder of his Life, in a State of War with the rest of Mankind.
The Humourist is constitutionally, and also from Reflection, a Man of Sincerity.--If he is a Rogue upon any Occasion, he is more wilfully one, and puts greater Violence upon himself in being such, than the rest of the World; And though he may generally seem to have little Benevolence, which is the common Objection against him, it is only for want of proper Objects; for no Person has certainly a quicker Feeling; And there are Instances frequent, of greater Generosity and humane Warmth flowing from an Humourist, than are capable of proceeding from a weak Insipid, who labours under a continual Flux of Civility.
Upon the whole, the Humourist is perhaps the least of all others, a despicable Character. But Imitations, which are frequently seen of this Character, are excessively despicable.--What can be more ridiculous, than a Wretch setting up for an Humourist, merely upon the Strength of disrelishing every Thing, without any Principle;--The Servants, Drawers, Victuals, Weather,--and growling without Poignancy of Sense, at every new Circumstance which appears, in public or private. A perfect and compleat Humourist is rarely to be found; and when you hear his Voice, is a different Creature.--In writing to Englishmen, who are generally tinged, deeply or slightly, with the Dye of the Humourist, it seem'd not improper to insist the longer upon this Character; However, let none be too fond of it; For though an Humourist with his Roughness is greatly to be preferr'd to a smooth Insipid, yet the Extremes of both are equally wretched: Ideots being only the lowest Scale of Insipids, as Madmen are no other than Humourists in Excess.
It may be proper to observe in this place, that though all Ostentation, Affectation, and Imitation are excluded from the Composition of a perfect Humourist; yet as they are the obvious Foibles of some Persons in Life, they may justly be made the Subject of Humour.
For Humour extensively and fully understood, is any remarkable Oddity or Foible belonging to a Person in real Life; whether this Foible be constitutional, habitual, or only affected; whether partial in one or two Circumstances; or tinging the whole Temper and Conduct of the Person.