THE NEW SCIENCE AND PROSE 175 



In the Characteristics of Shaftesbury, however, there is an 

 interesting idealization of the virtuoso. ''Every man", he as- 

 serts, "is a virtuoso, of a higher or lower degree ".^^^ He then 

 proceeds to point out that the danger in this interest lies in "fall- 

 ing in love with rarity for rareness' sake". The men wlio do this, 

 he admits, are deserving of the ridicule which they receive ;^^^ but 

 there is a study worth the pursuing. ' ' I am persuaded that to be a 

 Virtuoso (so far as befits a Gentleman) is a higher step toward 

 becoming a Man of Virtue and good sense, than the being what 

 in this Age we call a Scholar "."'' There is, furthermore, no ground 

 for prejudice against the new philosophy, for it does not contain 

 anything to bias a man's mind in the study of other problems.^^^ 

 After this defense there comes a passage in which the broadened 

 horizon has stimulated the imagination of this philosopher; the 

 "diocentric idea", Avhich John Locke received from the new astron- 

 omy, has dawned upon him also. "Yet is this Mansion-Globe, this 

 ]\Ian-Container, of a much narrower compass even than its other 

 fellow Wanderers of our system. How narrow then must it ap- 

 pear, compar'd with the spacious system of its own Sun? And 

 how narrow, or as nothing, in respect of those innumerable systems 

 of other apparent suns?"^^^ The Newtonian discoveries concerning 

 light also inspired him to write that rather eloquent passage be- 

 ginning, — "But wither shall we trace the sources of light? or in 

 what Ocean comprehend the luminous matter so wide diffus'd 

 thro' the immense spaces which it fills ?""^ 



There was in this philosopher a sensible and a genuine apprecia- 

 tion of the new science. He saw clearly the abuses of pretenders 

 to learning and felt that the satire on them was fully merited ; but 

 he saw also its nobler aspects and himself caught some of the zeal 

 of discovery. His mind was drawn into speculative philosophy 

 rather than experimental science, and yet this ' ' Virtuoso of Human- 

 ity" was broad-minded enough to commend the excellent service 

 the experimenters were performing. 



"' Characteristics, vol. I, p. 138. 



"•Ibid. II, 253. 



"■f Characteristics, I, p. 290. 



"8 Ibid. A Rhapsody. II, p. 373. 



""Ibid. p. 379. 



