PART II. ESSAY VI. ON THE ETHICS AND MORALITY OF STEELE. THOUGH in his life Steele was by no means correct, and was guilty of many irregularities which ultimately entailed upon him poverty and irritation of mind, in his writings he was uniformly the friend of virtue, propriety, and good sense. His periodical essays are, without exception, directed to the most useful purposes, to meliorate the condition of society, to ridicule folly and abash vice. To the morality inculcated in these publications, therefore, his own, and every succeeding generation owes much; "nor can they," says a celebrated writer, ever wholly lose their beneficial effects, while they continue to be among the first books by which both sexes are initiated in the elegancies of knowledge."* 66 There are few topics relative to the decencies * Johnson's Lives, vol. ii. p. 86. and duties of domestic life which have escaped the observation of Steele. "I must confess," says he," it has been a most exquisite pleasure to me to frame characters of domestic life, and put those parts of it which are least observed into an agreeable view; to inquire into the seeds of vanity and affectation; to lay before the readers the emptiness of ambition: in a word, to trace human life through all its mazes and recesses, and shew much shorter methods than men ordinarily practise, to be happy, agreeable, and great." Happiness in social life depends more upon attention to minute and apparently trivial circumstances than is usually imagined. Those slight but daily offices in which affection delights to be employed, and those courtesies and civilities which politeness and good breeding dictate, are absolutely essential to our comfort and tranquillity. Freedom from vice, or even the possession of great ability, and many positive virtues, will neither secure happiness to the individual, nor to those who surround him, unless combined with good temper, good breeding, and urbanity. For, to use the language of Cowper, *Tatler, No. 271. It is not timber, lead and stone, To finish a great building, The palace were but half complete, Or something not to be defin'd, Our author has therefore with great judgment frequently insisted upon the observance of what may be termed the minor duties; the neglect of which occasions hourly vexation, and pollutes the very sources of pleasure. He has developed in a clear manner the origin of our defalcations of this kind, and the means by which they may be generally avoided. In his observations on good-breeding he places in a strong light the numerous advantages arising from a familiar acquaintance with the modes of life, and with the graces of manner and conversation. "We see a world of pains taken," he observes, " and the best years of life spent in collecting a set of thoughts in a college for the conduct of life; and, after all, the man so qualified shall hesitate in his speech * Hayley's Life of Cowper, vol. i. p. 220.. to a good suit of clothes, and want common sense before an agreeable woman. Hence it is, that wisdom, valour, justice, and learning, cannot keep a man in countenance that is possessed with these excellencies, if he wants that inferior art of life and behaviour called Good-breeding. A man endowed with great perfections, without this, is like one who has his pockets full of gold, but always wants change for his ordinary occasions." * To render the beauty and utility of politeness more apparent, he dwells at some length upon the violations of decorum, and humorously exposes the rudeness and folly of loud laughing and speaking, of singing, whispering, &c. in mixed society. With much address he has laid open the sources of those petty quarrels which, though springing from the most unimportant events, more frequently than those resulting from, serious causes, plant the germs of disappointment and disgust. In the persons of Tranquillus and his lady, the sister of Bickerstaff, he has very delicately insinuated this truth; and has formed them, likewise, very pleasing models of conjugal affection and esteem.‡ Lessons on attentive conduct and social kindness; on forbearance, urbanity, and sweetness Tatler, No. 30. + Spectator, No. 148. Tatler, No. 79 and 85. of disposition, are scattered in such profusion through the writings of Sir Richard, that the task of selection becomes difficult. On envy, impudence, and good humour;t on generosity, detraction, § and avarice; || on benevolence, ¶ charity, and parental affection,++ his precepts cannot be too sedulously studied. The pernicious consequences of excessive avarice, and the reciprocal duties of father and son, of the care of parents due to their children, and the piety of children towards their parents, he has happily illustrated by the story of the Valentines of Germany; whilst in another part he has presented us with the following just and eloquently written reflections. "It is the most beautiful object," he observes, "the eyes of man can behold, to see a man of worth and his son live in an entire unreserved correspondence. The mutual kindness and affection between them, give an inexpressible satisfaction to all who know them. It is a sublime pleasure which increases by the participation. It is as sacred as friendship, as pleasurable as love, and as joyful as religion. This state of * Spectator, No. 19 and 20. + Spectator, No. 20. Spectator, No. 346. |