Mr Common Sense.
I believe you may have wondered at not hearing from me in so long
time, and will, perhaps, be more surprized at the Reason I am going to give
you.—In short, Sir, I am at length thoroughly convinced, that the
utmost
Perfection of human Wisdom is Silence;[1] and that when a Man hath learnt
to hold
his Tongue, he may be properly said to have arrived at the highest Pitch of
Philosophy.
I am so very fond of this virtue, that I shall do a kind of violence to
it (for Silence implies holding the Pen as well as the Tongue) to trumpet
forth its Praises, seeing that, upon much deep Reflection,
I am
persuaded, if any Virtue hath had that universal Assent
Wch Mr
Lock seems to deny,[2]
it
must be allowed to be this.
Solomon, the wisest of Men, declares loudly in
Commendation of this virtue. In the multitude of Words, says
he, there wanteth not Sin: but he that refraineth his Lips is
wise. again,—he that hath Knowledge spareth his
words. and[3] again,
Even
a Fool, when he holdeth his Lips, is counted wise; and he that shutteth his
Lips is esteemed a Man of Understanding.[4] and in several other Places
throughout his
Proverbs.
King David is so fond of Silence, that he applauds
himself
for abstaining even from good words; which, tho' it seems
it
was extremely troublesome to him, yet he was so resolute in his
Perseverance in this virtue, that rather than
let a word go from him he was determined to put
a Bridle,
or,
as I have seen it rendered from the
Hebrew, a Muzzle on his
Mouth.
[5]
The Stoicks, the greatest, wisest and most virtuous of all the Sects of
Heathen Philosophers,[6] had this
virtue in such Estimation, that it is well known what a long Silence was
necessary to qualify a Graduate in their Schools:[7] —whether these great Men
imagined, as
some have insinuated, that Wisdom, like good Ale, ripened and refined it
self by being well corked, I will not decide; or whether they might not,
with greater Justice observe, that Wisdom, like Air, being stopped in one
place would naturally find a vent in another, and so, by keeping the Mouth
close shut, infuse itself into the Muscles of the Face, and thereby create
what we call a wise Look, a Quality ever held in great Esteem, and of
singular good use in all Philosophical Societies.
Homer, a Poet of deep Penetration, to give his Reader
a
vast Idea of the wisdom of the Greeks, makes particular
mention of the profound Silence in which their Army marched.
oὶ δ'αρ ισαν σιγη
μενεα πνειονΤες
Aχαιοι.[8]
But, indeed, such are the Honours which Antiquity hath conferred on
this admirable Quality, that I may say, with Cicero, si
velim omnia percurrere Dies deficeret;[9] I shall therefore confine my self,
in the
Residue of this Letter, to my own Country, which, I can with Pleasure
observe to have been inferiour to no other in her Esteem of Silence.
To begin with our Philosophers,—The Spectator,
whom
the French call Le Socrate moderne,[10] was so perfect an Observer of
Silence,
that he assures us he seldom proceeded farther in Conversation than to a
Monosyllable; that he had often, among Persons not thoroughly acquainted
with him, passed by the name of the Dumb Man: to which I need not add
the great Ceremony & Difficulty with which his Mouth was once
publickly opened, as it is so
universally known.
[11] In a Word, he
seems to value himself more on his Taciturnity than his Eloquence, and,
notwithstanding the universal Applause his Works procured him, seems to
have taken to himself more Merit from what he had not said, than what he
had.
2dly, it is well remembered, that somewhat less than 100 years ago
Silence had obtained so much Ground in our Religious Meetings, That the
secret, silent Breathings of the Spirit diffused themselves all over the
Nation, some notable Remains of which we have at this Day among the
People called Quakers;—the Profoundness of whose silent Meetings
I
have often beheld with great Pleasure, nor can I help observing here the
Insinuation of a certain reverend Dean, in a serious Essay of his, that true
Christianity hath been put to Silence some time ago among us.[12]
But this Virtue blossoms no where so much as among the
Politicians.—A certain ludicrous Poet, in a Piece called the
Historical Register, wherein he introduced several Politicians on the
Stage, gives this Character of Silence to the chief of them;[13] but I am afraid in so doing, he did
not act
very politickly for himself: for I have observed, that his Muse hath been
silent ever since.
I have heard of a Coffee House Politician, who, by long Study and
deep Attention to the Art of Politicks, hath contracted as great a Fondness
for Silence as ever Don Quixotte had for Knight Errantry. It
is
reported of this whimsical Person, that he would bribe Persons to hold their
Tongue. I have heard, that if any Fellow attempted to make a Noise in the
Coffee House he was sure to have a Sum[14] of the old Gentleman, to procure
his
future Silence; which, they tell me, produced some comical Events.
As Mankind are generally apt, in their Opinions, to pay great Regard
to the value the Person sets on himself, and to esteem the Beauty of Women
and Wit of men in proportion to the Difficulty which attends their
Enjoyment:
so this Old Gentleman, by his great Parsimony of Words, at last procured
such a veneration for every thing he uttered, that my Grandfather, in whose
Time he lived, hath assured me that, on his offering to open his Mouth, the
whole Audience have attended as if Friar
Bacon's brazen
Head
had been on the Table.
[15] In short,
this Gentlemen [sic] (whose Profession was that of a Haberdasher of small
Wares)
[16] acquired at last such a
Reputation in the Coffee-House by his Taciturnity (for my Grandfather says
he can attribute it to nothing else,) that no one ever spoke but himself;
&
being now become the Oracle of the House, he used to make certain
weighty Motions concerning Tobacco, Coffee,
&c. and
when
no one answered him, he always ordered accordingly, pronouncing with a
grave Accent, Silence gives Consent.
But if we search narrowly into these Characters, which the
French call outrez, we may commonly discover in them
Contradictions equal to their Absurdities: for this old Fellow, who had so
violent an Antipathy to some Noises, had as great a Fondness for others.
Thus he is said to have been a passionate Admirer of a Drum,[17] at the same time that he always
fainted at
the Sound of a Musquet; and his Antipathy to the human Organs,
themselves, was not without some Particularity, and, indeed, seems to have
been not so much to the Sounds as to the Ideas they conveyed: of which I
have heard the following Instance: One of the Waiters at the Coffee-House,
whom they called young Will, was so notorious a Babbler,
that
it was generally thought the old Gentleman abovesaid would have insisted
on his being turned away; but what was their Surprize, when they beheld
him clap young Will on the Back & tip him Sixpence,
crying
out, That's my
good Boy, for tho' thou talkest more than any Body, no Man can
accuse thee of having ever said any thing.
So much for this old Coffee-House Politician: but pray,
Mr
Common-Sense, will you be so good to inform us, who live
at
this Distance, whether any of this Gentleman's Successors are yet living;
whether there reigns as great[18]
Silence in the Coffee-Houses [sic] at present as this Gentleman maintaind
in It as long as he lived.[19] There was
a great Noise some time ago concerning Spanish
Depradations,
which we did not like.—I do assure you, Sir, as great an Enemy as
I am
to Noise, I should not be displeased at the Musick
of a few Broad Sides: methinks, I could h[ea]r
[20] you with Pleasure on that Head;
for if we
are quite silent at home, it is probable we may hear on both Sides our Ears
from abroad: but sure we may have better Expectations from the glorious
Warmth of our King, and the ready Zeal of his Parl
t to
support him
therein. After this, no silent Steps are to be apprehended, and therefore I
shall be silent on that Head.
But it is now time for me to relapse into my usual Silence, therefore,
after having congratulated you on yr prudent speaking but
once a
Week, while the Gazeteer chatters every day, I shall, in a
silent
Manner, assure you, I am
Yr most humble Servt,
Mum Budget
[21]
Devon, 1 April, 1738.
