rulous, and neither facetious, nor fond of mirth; for querulousness is the very reverse of fondness for mirth. the orator Such, then, are the dispositions of the young, and 16. How of those in advanced life3. So that, as all welcome must use an address worded to their own disposition, and a these cha speaker who resembles themselves, it is clear by em- racters. ploying his oration in what way the orator will appear of this description, as regards himself and what he says. CHAP. XIV. Of the Dispositions of Persons in their mature Age. matured. 2. THOSE who are in their prime will, it is evident, be 1. Charac in a mean in point of disposition between these, sub-ter of the tracting the excesses of each: being neither rash in too great a degree, (for rashness is of this description, i. e. in excess,) nor too much given to fear, but keep- They are ing themselves right in respect to both. Neither moderate. placing confidence in all, nor distrusting all, but judging rather in conformity to the truth. Neither living with a view solely to what is honourable, nor with a view only to expediency, but with a respect to both. And conformed neither to penurious parsimony, nor to extravagance, but to what is fitting. With the 3. same equality do they carry themselves also in respect to anger and to desire. And they are of a tempering Are spicoolness joined with spirit, and are spirited not with- rited with to be apt to pity; because they take a favourable view of human nature. The old are equally liable to be affected by that passion, but it is on the latter principle; for though they view human nature in an unfavourable light, yet have they so strong a sense of their own liability to suffering, that they are led to commiserate others. Compare chap. viii. §7; and chap. xii. § 15. 3 In the Rambler, No. 196, the change of sentiments usual as men advance from youth to age is beautifully traced; and the whole paper affords a striking illustration of the subject treated in this and the preceding chapter. coolness. 4. Prime of life for the body and mind. out temperate coolness: for in the young and in elderly persons these qualities are separated; since the young are spirited, and of an intemperate rashness, while elderly persons are of a chastened spirit, and timid. And thus, in a word, whatever advantages youth and age have divided between them, the middle age possesses both; and in whatever respects they are either in excess or defect, in all these it holds a mean and what is fitting. But the body is in its prime from the age of thirty to five and thirty; and the mind about the age of forty-nine. Let thus much, then, have been said respecting youth, and old and mature age, and the dispositions which they severally are of. CHAP. XV. The characteristic Dispositions of Persons of high birth. 1. Charac- BUT let us treat of the goods of fortune next in order, so many of them at least as influence the dispositions of men in any particular way. ter of men of high birth. 2. Ambitious. tuous. Now it is the disposition of high birth, that its possessor is more ambitious than others; for all, when any possession is realized to them, are wont to acContemp- cumulate upon it. But high birth is nobility of ancestry; and it is apt to indulge in contempt even of those who are as good as its own ancestors; because distinctions, in proportion as they are more remote, rather than recent, are held in greater esteem, and afford a ready plea for arrogance. But, noble, is an appellation referring to excellence of birth; whereas, generous refers to one's not degenerating from the nature [of his ancestry]; which, generally speaking, is not the case with the noble, but the majority of them are ordinary persons. For there is a kind of richness of produce in the genera tions of man, just as there is in that which arises from the land; and at times, should the stock be good, compared there arise in a family at intervals extraordinary per- to the soil sons; and afterwards it again relaxes. And a family of brilliant talent run wild into dispositions bordering on madness; as in the instances of the descendants of Alcibiades, and Dionysius the elder: and one of sedate wisdom, into stupidity and dulness; as in the instances of the descendants of Cimon, and Pericles, and Socrates. CHAP. XVI. The Dispositions consequent on Wealth. ANY one, without any great penetration, may distin- 1. Charac guish the dispositions consequent on wealth; for ter of the wealthy. [its possessors] are insolent and overbearing, from Insolent. being tainted in a certain way by the getting of their wealth. For they are affected as though they possessed every good; since wealth is a sort of standard of the worth of other things; whence every thing seems to be purchaseable by it. And they 2. are affectedly delicate and purse-proud; they are Fastidithus delicate on account of their luxurious lives, and ous. the display they make of their prosperity. They are Pursepurse-proud, and violate the rules of good breeding2, proud. 1 Μανικώτερα, In connexion with this word it should be borne in mind, that the Greeks were accustomed to consider every kind of enthusiastic impetuosity as a species of madness. See Twining on the Poetics, note 140. 2 Zoλoikot, the inhabitants of Soli in Cilicia, whose corruptions of the Greek language became proverbial. The word was used also to designate those who were guilty of impropriety in conduct, as well as in expression. Massinger, in enumerating some instances of ill breeding, uses the expression. He ne'er observed you To twirl a dish about, you did not like of, Unnatural Combat, act iii. sc. 1. See too Ben Jonson's Fox, vol. iii. p. 275. Presum- from the circumstance that every one is wont to ing. dwel. upon that which is beloved and admired by him, and because they think that others are emulous of that, of which they are themselves. But at the same time they are thus affected reasonably enough; for many are they who need the aid of men of property. Whence, too, that remark of Simonides addressed to the wife of Hiero respecting the wealthy and the wise; for when she asked him, "whether it were better to have been born wealthy or wise," he replied, "wealthy; for," he said, "he used to see the wise hanging on at the doors of the wealthy." And [it is a characteristic of the rich] that they esteem themselves worthy of being in office; for they consider themselves possessed of that on account of which they are entitled to be in office. And, in a word, the disposition of the rich is that of a fool amid prosperity. 3. Arro gant of place and power. 4. Difference be However, the dispositions of those who are but tween the lately rich, and of those who have been so from of newly old, are different; inasmuch as those who have rerich and cently become rich3 have all these faults in a greater have been and a worse degree; for the having recently become so from of rich is as it were an inexpertness in wealth. And old. those who they are guilty of offences, not of a malicious nature, but such as are either offences of contumely or intemperance; for instance, in the case of assault or adultery. 3 It is on this principle that Clytemnestra congratulates Cassandra on being the slave of an ancient family, rather than one recently advanced in the world : ἀρχαιοπλούτων δεσποτῶν πολλὴ χάρις Esch. Agam. 1010. Vide illustrations in Symmons's Translation, p. 97. See Johnson's Life of Savage, p. 338, vol. vii. edit. 1823, of his works; Examples, etc. See Esch. Prom. Vinct. 35. ἅπας δὲ τραχύς, ὅστις ἂν νέον κρατῇ. CHAP. XVII. Of the Dispositions of Men in Power, and of the Fortunate. ter of men but they more AND in the same way on the subject of power, the 1. Charao most striking almost of its dispositions are evident; in power for of these power has some in common with wealth, resembles and others which are better. For men in power are the rich; more ambitious and more manly in their dispositions are more than the wealthy; from their aiming at all duties ambiwhatsoever, which from their power they have the tious, means of discharging. And they are less given to manly. trifling, because, from a necessity of looking carefully 2. to their power, they are constrained to a diligent at- trifling. tention. And they comport themselves with a dig- 4. Are nity which is conciliatory rather than repulsive; for dignified. their claims for dignity render them more conspicuous; on which account, they bear themselves moderately : but conciliatory dignity is a softened and graceful sedateness. And, if they do transgress the bounds of right, it is not in small points, but in those which are of importance, that they are guilty. 3. Less fortunate. But good fortune, according to its constituents, is 5. Charaoof the disposition of the states which have been de- ter of the scribed; since those which appear to be the greatest instances of good fortune resolve themselves ultimately into these states: and, besides these, to the excellence of one's progeny, and to personal advantages. But men are usually more overbearing and 6. Overinconsiderate in consequence of prosperity. But one bearing. disposition, and that most excellent, is a concomitant of good fortune, viz. that the fortunate are lovers of the gods, and are disposed toward the deity with a Yet resort of confidence, in consequence of the goods which ligious. have accrued to them from fortune. The subject, then, of the dispositions as they conform to age and to fortune has been discussed; for from the opposites of my remarks the opposite subjects will be evident; the subject, for example, of the disposition of a poor, or unfortunate person, or of one out of power. |