Memoirs Of Aaron Burr, Volume 1, Matthew L. Davis [book club suggestions .txt] 📗

Acquire Command Of Language, In

Order That He May Be Able To Write With Ease And Readiness, And, Upon

Any Occasion, To Form Extempore Discourses. Unless He Can Do This, He

Will Never Shine As A Speaker, Nor Will He Ever Make A Figure In

Private Conversation. But To Do This, It Is Necessary To Study

Simplicity Of Style. There Never Was A Ready Speaker, Whose Language

Was Not, Generally, Plain And Simple; For It Is Absolutely Impossible

To Carry The Laboured Ornaments Of Language, The Round Period, Or The

Studied Epithet, Into Extempore Discourses; And, Were It Possible, It

Would Be Ridiculous. We Have Learned, Indeed, Partly From Reading

Poetry, And Partly From Reading Vicious Compositions, To Endure, And

Too Often To Admire, Such Stiff And Laboured Discourses In Writing;

But If It Were Even Possible For A Man To Speak In The Same Pompous

Diction In Which Browne Has Written His Vulgar Errors, He Would

Certainly Be Very Disagreeable. This Reason, Among Others, May Be

Assigned For It; That However Such False Ornaments May Please For A

Time, Yet, When A Long And Steady Attention Is Required, We Are Tired

And Disgusted With Every Thing Which Increases Our Labour, And Diverts

The Attention From The Subject Before Us. A Laboured Style Is A Labour

Even To The Hearer. A Simple Style, Like Simple Food, Preserves The

Appetite. But A Profusion Of Ornament, Like A Profusion Of Sweets,

Palls The Appetite And Becomes Disgusting. A Man Might As Soon Think

Of Filling His Stomach With Sweetmeats, As Going Through A Long Debate

Filled With Pompous Epithets And Sounding Language. If We Have Any

Doubt Of Its Being Ridiculous, Let Us Only Suppose A Man Arguing An

Abstruse Subject In Metaphysics, In The Blank Verse Of Milton, Or The

Exact Rhymes Of Pope. The Absurdity Is The Same, Only Different In

Degree. I Would Not Be Understood To Cut Off An Extempore Speaker From

Sublime Expressions; Because I Do Not Suppose These To Be Inconsistent

With Simplicity Of Style. I Really Doubt If There Be Any Such Thing As

Sublimity Of Style, Strictly Speaking.

Chapter II Pg 14

But, Indeed, Rather Believe

That The Sublime Depends Upon The Thoughts, Which Are The More Sublime

By Being Clearly And Simply Expressed, This, However, Is Not Material

At Present. It Is Certainly Impossible For A Speaker To Carry Laboured

Periods Into His Extempore Discourses: It Is No Less Certain, That In

General, A Simple Style Is To Be Preferred, And That He Would Be

Ridiculous And Disagreeable If He Could Do It; And As Extempore

Speaking Is A Great Object, Which We Ought To Have In View In The

Formation Of Our Style, This May Be Used As One Argument Why We Should

Study A Simple Style."

  

 

_The Passions_.

 

 

"Amid The Variety Of Literary Pieces Which Have In All Ages Been

Ushered Into The World, Few, If Any, Afford Greater Satisfaction Than

Those That Treat Of Man. To Persons Of A Speculative Nature And

Elegant Taste, Whose Bosoms Glow With Benevolence, Such Disquisitions

Are Peculiarly Delightful. The Reason, Indeed, Is Obvious; For What

More Necessary To Be Learned And Accurately Understood? What More Near

And Interesting? And, Therefore, What More Proper To Engage The

Attention? Well May I Say, With Our Ethic Poet,

 

 

    "'The Proper Study Of Mankind Is Man.'

 

 

"If We Take A View Of The Body Only, Which May Be Called The Shell Or

External Crust, We Shall Perceive It To Be Formed With Amazing Nicety

And Art. How Are We Lost In Wonder When We Behold All Its Component

Parts; When We Behold Them, Although Various And Minute, And Blended

Together Almost Beyond Conception, Discharging Their Peculiar

Functions Without The Least Confusion. All Harmoniously Conspiring To

One Grand End.

 

 

"But When We Take A Survey Of The More Sublime Parts Of The Human

Frame; When We Behold Man'S Internal Make And Structure; His Mental

Faculties; His Social Propensions, And Those Active Powers Which Set

All In Motion--The Passions,--What An Illustrious Display Of

Consummate Wisdom Is Presented To Our Admiring View! What Brighter

Mark--What Stronger Evidence Need We Of A God? The Scanty Limits Of A

Few Minutes, To Which I Am Confined, Would Not Permit Me, Were I Equal

To The Task, To Enter Into A Particular Examination Of All Man'S

Internal Powers. I Shall Therefore Throw Out A Few Thoughts On The

Passions Only.

 

 

"Man'S Mental Powers, Being In Their Nature Sluggish And Inactive,

Cannot Put Themselves In Motion. The Grand Design Then Of The Passions

Is, To Rouse Them To Action.

Chapter II Pg 15

These Lively And Vigorous Principles Make

Us Eager In The Pursuit Of Those Things That Are Approved By The

Judgment; Keep The Mind Intent Upon Proper Objects, And At Once Awake

To Action All The Powers Of The Soul. The Passions Give Vivacity To

All Our Operations, And Render The Enjoyments Of Life Pleasing And

Agreeable. Without Them, The Scenes Of The World Would Affect Us No

More Than The Shadowy Pictures Of A Morning Dream.

 

 

"Who Can View The Works Of Nature, And The Productions Of Art, Without

The Most Sublime And Rapturous Emotions? Who Can View The Miseries Of

Others, Without Being Dissolved Into Compassion? Who Can Read Human

Nature, As Represented In The Histories Of The World, Without Burning

To Chastise The Perpetrators Of Tyranny, Or Glowing To Imitate The

Assertors Of Freedom? But, Were We Of A Sudden Stripped Of Our

Passions, We Should Survey The Works Of Nature And The Productions Of

Art With Indifference And Neglect. We Should Be Unaffected With The

Calamities Of Others, Deaf To The Calls Of Pity, And Dead To All The

Feelings Of Humanity. Without Generosity, Benevolence, Or Charity, Man

Would Be A Groveling, Despicable Creature. Without The Passions, Man

Would Hardly Rank Above The Beasts.

 

 

"It Is A Trite Truth, That The Passions Have Too Much Influence Over

Our Sentiments And Opinions. It Is The Remark Of A Late Author, That

The Actions And Sentiments Of Men Do As Naturally Follow The Lead Of

The Passions, As The Effect Does The Cause. Hence They Are, By Some,

Aptly Enough, Termed The Principles Of Action. Vicious Desires Will

Produce Vicious Practices; And Men, By Permitting Themselves To Think

Of Indulging Irregular Passions, Corrupt The Understanding, Which Is

The Source Of All Virtue And Morality. The Passions, Then, If Properly

Regulated, Are The Gentle Gales Which Keep Life From Stagnating; But,

If Let Loose, The Tempests Which Tear Every Thing Before Them. Too

Fatal Observation Will Evince The Truth Of This.

 

 

"Do We Not Frequently Behold Men Of The Most Sprightly Genius, By

Giving The Reins To Their Passions, Lost To Society, And Reduced To

The Lowest Ebb Of Misery And Despair? Do We Not Frequently Behold

Persons Of The Most Penetrating Discernment And Happy Turn For Polite

Literature, By Mingling With The Sons Of Sensuality And Riot, Blasted

In The Bloom Of Life? Such Was The Fate Of The Late Celebrated Duke Of

Wharton, Wilmot, Earl Of Rochester, And Villers, Duke Of Buckingham,

Three Noblemen, As Eminently Distinguished By Their Wit, Taste, And

Knowledge, As For Their Extravagance, Revelry, And Lawless Passions.

In Such Cases, The Most Charming Elocution, The Finest Fancy, The

Brightest Blaze Of Genius, And The Noblest Burst Of Thoughts, Call For

Louder Vengeance, And Damn Them To Lasting Infamy And Shame.

 

 

"A Greater Curse Cannot, Indeed, Befall Community, Than For Princes

And Men In Eminent Departments To Be Under The Influence Of

Ill-Directed Passions. Lo Alexander And Cesar, The Fabled Heroes Of

Antiquity, To What Lengths Did Passion Hurry Them?

Chapter II Pg 16

Ambition, With Look

Sublime, Bade Them On, Bade Them Grasp At Universal Dominion, And Wade

To Empire Through Seas Of Blood! But Why Need I Confine Myself To

These? Do Not Provinces, Plundered And Laid Waste With Fire And Sword;

Do Not Nations, Massacred And Slaughtered By The Bloody Hand Of War;

Do Not All These Dreadful And Astonishing Revolutions, Recorded In The

Pages Of History, Show The Fatal Effects Of Lawless Passions?

 

 

"If The Happiness Of Others Could Not, Yet Surely Our Own Happiness

Should Induce Us To Keep Our Passions Within The Bounds Of Reason; For

The Passions, When Unduly Elevated, Destroy The Health, Impair The

Mental Faculties, Sour The Disposition, Embitter Life, And Make Us

Equally Disagreeable To Others And Uneasy To Ourselves. Is It Not,

Then, Of Moment, That Our Passions Be Duly Balanced, Their Sallies

Confined Within Proper Limits, And In No Case Suffered To Transgress

The Bounds Of Reason? Will Any One Deny The Importance Of Regulating

The Passions, When He Considers How Powerful They Are, And That His

Own Happiness, And Perhaps The Happiness Of Thousands, Depends Upon

It? The Regulation Of The Passions Is A Matter Of Moment, And

Therefore We Should Be Careful To Fix Them Upon Right Objects, To

Confine Them Within Proper Bounds, And Never Permit Them To Exceed The

Limits Assigned By Nature. It Is The Part Of Reason To Sooth The

Passions, And To Keep The Soul In A Pleasing Serenity And Calm: If

Reason Rules, All Is Quiet, Composed, And Benign: If Reason Rules, All

The Passions, Like A Musical Concert, Are In Unison. In Short, Our

Passions, When Moderate, Are Accompanied With A Sense Of Fitness And

Rectitude; But, When Excessive, Inflame The Mind, And Hurry Us On To

Action Without Due Distinction Of Objects.

 

 

"Among Uncivilized Nations, The Passions Do, In General, Exceed All

Rational Bounds. Need We A Proof Of This? Let Us Cast Our Eyes On The

Different Savage Tribes In The World, And We Shall Be Immediately

Convinced That The Passions Rule Without Control. Happy It Is, That In

Polished Society, The Passions, By Early Discipline, Are So Moderated

As To Be Made Subservient To The Most Important Services. In This

Respect, Seminaries Of Learning Are Of The Utmost Advantage, And

Attended With The Most Happy Effects. Moreover, The Passions Are

Attended With Correspondent Commotions In Animal Nature, And,

Therefore, The Real Temper Will, Of Course, Be Discovered By The

Countenance, The Gesture, And The Voice. Here I Might Run Into A

Pleasing Enumeration Of Many Instances Of This; But, Fearing That I

Have Already Trespassed Upon Your Patience, Shall Desist. Permit Me,

However Unusual, To Close With A Wish. May None Of Those Unruly

Passions Ever Captivate Any Of My Audience."