Volume Iii Part 97 (1/2)
It is certain the Imagination may be so differently affected in Sleep, that our Actions of the Day might be either rewarded or punished with a little Age of Happiness or Misery. St. _Austin_ was of Opinion, that if in _Paradise_ there was the same Vicissitude of sleeping and waking as in the present World, the Dreams of its Inhabitants would be very happy.
And so far at present our Dreams are in our Power, that they are generally conformable to our waking Thoughts, so that it is not impossible to convey our selves to a Consort of Musick, the Conversation of Distant Friends, or any other Entertainment which has been before lodged in the Mind.
My Readers, by applying these Hints will find the Necessity of making a _good Day_ of it, if they heartily wish themselves a good Night.
I have often consider'd _Marcia's_ Prayer, and _Lucius's_ Account of _Cato_, in this Light.
Marc. O ye immortal Powers, that guard the Just, Watch round his Couch, and soften his Repose, Banish his Sorrows, and becalm his Soul With easie Dreams; remember all his Virtues; And shew Mankind that Goodness is your Care.
Luc. Sweet are the Slumbers of the virtuous Man!
O Marcia, I have seen thy G.o.dlike Father: Some Pow'r invisible supports his Soul, And bears it up in all its wonted Greatness.
A kind refres.h.i.+ng Sleep is fall'n upon him: I saw him stretcht at Ease, his Fancy lost In pleasing Dreams; as I drew near his Couch, He smil'd, and cry'd, Caesar, thou canst not hurt me.
Mr. _Shadow_ acquaints me in a Postscript, that he has no manner of t.i.tle to the Vision which succeeded his first Letter; but adds, that as the Gentleman who wrote it Dreams very sensibly, he shall be glad to meet him some Night or other, under the great Elm Tree, by which _Virgil_ has given us a fine Metaphorical Image of Sleep, in order to turn over a few of the Leaves together, and oblige the Publick with an Account of the Dreams that lie under them.
No. 594. Wednesday, September 15, 1714.
'--Absentem qui rodit amic.u.m, Qui non defendit, alio culpante; solutos Qui captat risus hominum, famamque dicacis, Fingere qui non visa potest, commissa tacere Qui nequit, hic niger est: hunc tu Romane caveto.'
Hor.
Were all the Vexations of Life put together, we should find that a great Part of them proceed from those Calumnies and Reproaches which we spread abroad concerning one another.
There is scarce a Man living who is not, in some Degree, guilty of this Offence; tho', at the same time, however we treat one another, it must be confessed, that we all consent in speaking ill of the Persons who are notorious for this Practice. It generally takes its Rise either from an Ill-will to Mankind, a private Inclination to make our selves esteemed, an Ostentation of Wit, a Vanity of being thought in the Secrets of the World, or from a Desire of gratifying any of these Dispositions of Mind in those Persons with whom we converse.
The Publisher of Scandal is more or less odious to Mankind, and criminal in himself, as he is influenced by any one or more of the foregoing Motives. But whatever may be the Occasion of spreading these false Reports, he ought to consider, that the Effect of them is equally prejudicial and pernicious to the Person at whom they are aimed. The Injury is the same, tho' the Principle from whence it proceeds may be different.
As every one looks upon himself with too much Indulgence, when he pa.s.ses a Judgment on his own Thoughts or Actions, and as very few would be thought guilty of this abominable Proceeding, which is so universally practised, and, at the same time, so universally blamed, I shall lay down three Rules by which I would have a Man examine and search into his own Heart, before he stands acquitted to himself of that evil Disposition of Mind which I am here mentioning.
_First_ of all, Let him consider whether he does not take Delight in hearing the Faults of others.
_Secondly_, Whether he is not too apt to believe such little blackning Accounts, and more inclined to be credulous on the uncharitable than on the good-natured Side.