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Article ESSAY ON THE WRITINGS OF LORD CHESTERFIELD. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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Essay On The Writings Of Lord Chesterfield.
yet this must not be . his principal object , after he has -quitted his Tjuerile studies . This , like the ceremonials of religion , should not be left undone : but their are other weightier matters , which it would be criminal to neglect , on account of politeness , or even to imagine in competition with it . To politeness , however , Chesterfield would sacrifice the most serious considerations : nor is it too strong to say , considering the gross immorality of his bookthat for the sake of
po-, lishing the body , he would absolutely annihilate the soul—sacrifice immortality to the art of pleasing for a moment , and sell his birthright in Heaven for a bow . In Chesterfield ' s Letters , can we separate this exterior air from internal depravity ? Can we disjoin corporeal crracefiilness from mental corruption ? If we could , the Letters , though frivolous and contemptiblemiht becomparativelyinnocent .. The
, g , , truth , however , is , that the Chesterfieldian politeness cannot exist without the ' voltosciolto , pensieri stretti *—the secret heart and thetransparent countenance—that it is connected , indeed , not only with dissimulation , but with the most abominable hypocrisy . If there be
an ) thing in the Letters like a recommendation of morality and religion , is noi the heart wounded on discovering that appearances only were intended ? Is not the assumption of relig ion set down as one of the proprieties of behaviour ; and is not the reality sneered at ? And is not vanity with Lord Chesterfield ( asit was always with the French ) the chief motive of every moral action ? All this is too plain , to be denied . Nor can it be dissembledthat Chesterfield recommends a
, scheme of intrigue , the most infamous—objecting only to common prostitutes , because they mig ht contaminate , the gentleman ; and approving of adultery as creditable in the world of fashion . But this adultery must be with a woman of fashion : whether married or unmatied , is of little consequence , provided the woman be a well-bred woman—a whore of quality with whom his son intrigues . Thus a
father , far advanced in life , addresses his poor inexperienced child . The truth is , that throughout his Letters , on every view of the subject , he considers vice only as discred table and avoidable , when debased by adventitious vulgarities . To commit a sin , in one way , is blackguardly : to commit it , in another , is gentlemanly . To cheat
or to lie , directl }' , is infamous : but to impose and deceive , by the deepest artifices and long-drawn falsehoods , is polite and politic . To be surprised in a momentary connection with ' . a strange woman who liattereth with her lips '—is a vice so extremely low and vulgar , as to admit of no extenuation : but to seduce by a train of circumvention a married woman of quality from the affections of her husband , is a token of manly spirit—an evidence of fine accomplishments and
address . " After all this , which I defy any one to disprove , can it be said in justice , that Johnson was too severe ? Would not every sensible and reli gious man applaud the revered moralist , for his noble indignation ?—But if Johnson ' s authority be disregarded , a greater than Johnson is here—attend to the Bishop of London—Liseu to Purteus—as pious as Johnson , and as polite as Chesterfield ! ' The maxims that ure now to enlighten and improve mankind ( says this eloquent
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Essay On The Writings Of Lord Chesterfield.
yet this must not be . his principal object , after he has -quitted his Tjuerile studies . This , like the ceremonials of religion , should not be left undone : but their are other weightier matters , which it would be criminal to neglect , on account of politeness , or even to imagine in competition with it . To politeness , however , Chesterfield would sacrifice the most serious considerations : nor is it too strong to say , considering the gross immorality of his bookthat for the sake of
po-, lishing the body , he would absolutely annihilate the soul—sacrifice immortality to the art of pleasing for a moment , and sell his birthright in Heaven for a bow . In Chesterfield ' s Letters , can we separate this exterior air from internal depravity ? Can we disjoin corporeal crracefiilness from mental corruption ? If we could , the Letters , though frivolous and contemptiblemiht becomparativelyinnocent .. The
, g , , truth , however , is , that the Chesterfieldian politeness cannot exist without the ' voltosciolto , pensieri stretti *—the secret heart and thetransparent countenance—that it is connected , indeed , not only with dissimulation , but with the most abominable hypocrisy . If there be
an ) thing in the Letters like a recommendation of morality and religion , is noi the heart wounded on discovering that appearances only were intended ? Is not the assumption of relig ion set down as one of the proprieties of behaviour ; and is not the reality sneered at ? And is not vanity with Lord Chesterfield ( asit was always with the French ) the chief motive of every moral action ? All this is too plain , to be denied . Nor can it be dissembledthat Chesterfield recommends a
, scheme of intrigue , the most infamous—objecting only to common prostitutes , because they mig ht contaminate , the gentleman ; and approving of adultery as creditable in the world of fashion . But this adultery must be with a woman of fashion : whether married or unmatied , is of little consequence , provided the woman be a well-bred woman—a whore of quality with whom his son intrigues . Thus a
father , far advanced in life , addresses his poor inexperienced child . The truth is , that throughout his Letters , on every view of the subject , he considers vice only as discred table and avoidable , when debased by adventitious vulgarities . To commit a sin , in one way , is blackguardly : to commit it , in another , is gentlemanly . To cheat
or to lie , directl }' , is infamous : but to impose and deceive , by the deepest artifices and long-drawn falsehoods , is polite and politic . To be surprised in a momentary connection with ' . a strange woman who liattereth with her lips '—is a vice so extremely low and vulgar , as to admit of no extenuation : but to seduce by a train of circumvention a married woman of quality from the affections of her husband , is a token of manly spirit—an evidence of fine accomplishments and
address . " After all this , which I defy any one to disprove , can it be said in justice , that Johnson was too severe ? Would not every sensible and reli gious man applaud the revered moralist , for his noble indignation ?—But if Johnson ' s authority be disregarded , a greater than Johnson is here—attend to the Bishop of London—Liseu to Purteus—as pious as Johnson , and as polite as Chesterfield ! ' The maxims that ure now to enlighten and improve mankind ( says this eloquent