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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
The < &ft £ fgjteK $ f E % lkaer is wprksd owut with % precppn , fflr $ < t fii ^ i . trttt ^ tri 4 y adnjjr ^ bie . Th § trag ic '' eyggt ' ^ fj ^ gji ftjra |» titie fifyi ei ; interest of tHe story obliges him to wpte a narrative of bis life , by extracting from which a feysr of tie leading points v $ e may $ uocep 4 * giving some idea of the vjrhple , noyyr ever incompletely . Some of the general observaiipq § at ihe commencement of this narrative contain deep truth ; such , for
mstenc § , as the following ; the force of which may be lost in consequence of an ambiguity in its expression : — " How vaju it is to analyse motive ! Each man has the same motives ; but , it is the materials of each mind—the plastic or rocky nature , \ hp mild o $ t&p binning temperament , that rejects the alien iiif&ieuce , or receive ^ it into its own essence , 3 , nd causes the act . Such an impulse if *
as a summer healthy breeze , just dimpling a still lake r to one ; while to pother it is the whirlwind that rouses him to spread ruin around / - — tpl . ii . p . 162 . The outward aims , the universal objects of desire , which are her $ meant by the word motives , are indeed everywhere the same ,
thpygb in their combination with local circumstance they tak e diversities * of fprm ; but in their action upon inward nature , wlucji is infinitely varied , they assume such different degrees of power that it is vain to analyse them as principles of action . Yejt it is the common practice of the world to consider tHem atone in its estimate of vice and virtue . Here is another fine
parSis ^ ge : — " Many are the checks afforded us . Some are possessed by f&Mp-Qtji (» r ^ " (\ y § appreci ^ t ( p the nice but most important distinction of $ ie two , classy ) " are endowed with a sensibility so prpphetic of tKe evil th ^ J nma % ensue , that perforce they cannot act the thing they desire ; ' tliey the i being the
tremble ^ t ^ ea of cause of events , over whosp future course they can have no control ; they fear injuring others . —&nditcar own remorse . "—Ibid . Tl ^ ese few lines describe an order of ch aracter less apptfeci ^ ted than perhaps any other : —one in which extreme sensibility may give the appearance of apathy , and strength of sympathy look like weakness of purpose ; while want of
selfishnpss may be mistaken for impotence of will . The will is overcome by the feelings , and action stands suspended , because instinctive forebodings have already sunk appalled over the result * Such natures are sensitive rather than impassioned , and formed to feel rather than to act . They enjoy very rarely , because at pffeser ^ t selfishness predominates in the worl d , and they cannot { maintain their ground against it ; nevertheless , thejf are' $ rmed io enjoy , though not U ) the highest <) egree . They are pecifliarl y fitted to confer happiness on certain natures ^ ijtld ar ^ i > l sp Very liable to c ^ use ex treme suffering , when beauty ati 4 attractive qualities give them the power t 6 inspire
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 1, 1837, page 229, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1830/page/39/
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