THE

BRITISH ESSAYISTS.

FORTY VOLUMES.

VOL. VIII.

THE

BRITISH ESSAYISTS.

WITH

PREFACES,

BIOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL, AND CRITICAL.

BY

JAMES FERGUSON, ESQ.

AUTHOR OF THE "NEW BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.'

Second Edition.

IN FORTY VOLUMES.

VIII.

SPECTATOR, VOL. IV.

LONDON:

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234173

THE

SPECTATOR.

N° 255. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1711.

Laudis amore tumes? sunt certa piacula, quæ te

Ter purè lecto poterunt recreare libello.

HOR. Ep. 1. lib. i. ver. 36.

[IMITATED.]

Know there are rhymes, which (fresh and fresh apply'd) Will cure the arrant'st puppy of his pride.

POPE.

THE Soul, considered abstractedly from its passions, is of a remiss and sedentary nature, slow in its resolves, and languishing in its executions. The use therefore of the passions is to stir it up, and to put it upon action, to awaken the understanding, to enforce the will, and to make the whole man more vigorous and attentive in the prosecution of his designs. As this is the end of the passions in general, so it is particularly of ambition, which pushes the soul to such actions as are apt to procure honour and reputation to the actor. But if we carry our reflections higher, we may discover farther ends of Providence in implanting this passion in mankind.